Yankees: Trade Deadline Targets for New York During Shortened 2020 MLB Season

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There will be an MLB trade deadline in 2020, so here’s who the New York Yankees should target.

It’s crazy to think there will even be a trade deadline, but as part of the negotiations, the shortened 2020 season‘s cutoff will be Aug. 31. Teams will be permitted to complete trades between Friday (when MLB lifts the transaction freeze) until then.

Many expected the league to do away with the deadline this year given the season is only 60 games and the fact that players switching teams and traveling more than they need to isn’t exactly safe while we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

Nonetheless, this gives the Yankees a chance to bolster their roster in a tight window to capture a World Series with seemingly many factors to their advantage. They’ll mostly be healthy by the time the year starts, and pitchers will be as fresh as ever throwing in just 60 regular season games.

So who should the Yankees go after at the deadline? Perhaps some teams will want to get value for notable stars/contributors who are heading into free agency after 2020.

3. Jeff Samardzija

Jeff Samardzija #29 of the San Francisco Giants (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

The Yankees adding Jeff Samardzija to the rotation would be huge.

Jeff Samardzija was believed to be a target of the Yankees when he hit free agency about four years ago, but the former Chicago Cub inked a big five-year, $90 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. He hasn’t lived up to that contract whatsoever, though he did have his best campaign since 2014 last year. In 32 starts, the right-hander went 11-12 with a 3.52 ERA and 1.11 WHIP while striking out 140 batters in 180.1 innings of work. That’s not bad at all, especially for someone who would probably get slotted into the back end of the Yankees rotation. As for the Giants, we can safely assume this team will be far from contention from the moment the season begins, and given their need to rebuild their terrible farm system, moving Shark is a no-brainer.

2. Kirby Yates

San Diego Padres closer Kirby Yates (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

Former Yankee Kirby Yates would be a perfect fit for the bullpen.

Another NL West team who will almost certainly not be in contention is the San Diego Padres. They’ve been a mess for years, and while a 60-game season sure tips the scales in their favor, MLB fans certainly wouldn’t bet on seeing them in the playoffs, especially with how loaded the National League is. Padres general manager AJ Preller loves to make trades and is far from conservative on the transaction front, so we can expect San Diego to offload some promising talent hitting free agency after this season. Kirby Yates (a former Yankee!) has been one of the best relievers in the game the past two years and earned his first All-Star nod in 2019. He pitched to a 1.19 ERA, led the NL in saves with 41, and struck out 101 batters in just 60.2 innings. Imagine adding that production to the Yankees bullpen? Forget worrying about a lackluster performance from a starter in the playoffs! Aaron Boone will be able to deploy reliever after reliever while the offense relentlessly fights to get back in the game. This Padres team is young and should be good in a few years, so there’s no reason why Preller wouldn’t look to offload Yates, an impending free agent, for a top prospect to continue moving along that trajectory. The Yankees have plenty of talent that would intrigue the Pads.

1. Marcus Stroman

New York Mets Pitcher Marcus Stroman #7 (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Marcus Stroman probably wants to be a Yankee, let’s be honest.

It’s certainly possible the New York Mets will be in World Series contention, especially during a significantly shortened campaign, but, come on. We’re talking about the Mets here. They can also just as easily go 0-60. It’s ludicrous enough that the fans in Queens consider the Yankees to be their rivals (they’re in different leagues and only once — the 2000 World Series — has one had a direct impact on the other’s season). Oh, and most importantly: the Yankees are good and the Mets are bad. This couldn’t be further from a rivalry. So let’s end this “the Mets will never make a trade with the Yankees” garbage in 2020. If they get off to a start in which they dig themselves into an insurmountable hole, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen would be a fool not to trade assets that are about to hit free agency, and Marcus Stroman is the No. 1 suspect here. Acquired last season in a trade that was supposed to prop this team up in 2020 alongside the duo of Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard (who’s out for the year), Stroman is a fiery competitor perfect for the Yankees rotation. The fact of the matter is that the Yanks do need one more starter if they want that length and durability heading into the postseason, because Luis Severino is out for the year and we don’t know what to expect from Domingo German when he returns. Throw Stroman in the mix with Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton, and that’s a legitimate rotation that can get past the Houston Astros. If Van Wagenen, in the midst of a horrible start to the 2020 season, turns down a deal for Stroman that includes a top prospect — which the Mets desperately need after decimating their own farm system — he might as well start packing his bags.

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