Yankees: 3 best trades NYY didn’t make in recent years

2. Gleyber Torres to Detroit

It’s almost an annual lock for the Yankees to be in the market for a starting pitcher ahead of the trade deadline, and understandably so, as they’ve lacked genuine depth in the rotation for a few years now.

The same can be said for 2019, when New York reportedly reached out to the Detroit Tigers — who were taking offers on seemingly every player at the time — and inquired about the availability of left-hander Matthew Boyd.

While the Yanks showed real interest in acquiring the 29-year-old veteran, what reportedly dissuaded them from pulling the trigger was that Detroit was demanding Gleyber Torres in return, and fans should be thanking their lucky stars this turned out to be the case.

For starters, Boyd is the definition of a below-average starting pitcher. In 121 career starts, he’s 31-48 with a woeful 5.02 ERA and equally-egregious 1.333 WHIP. In comparison, Torres is just 23 years old and has established himself as one of the best young players in the game. Last season, he hit .278/.337/.535 with 38 home runs, 90 RBI and an .871 OPS.

Gleyber Torres is a superstar in the making for New York.

As much of a mastermind as Cashman has been pulling the strings through the years, Yankees fans might not have been able to forgive him if he traded Torres for a player that would have made the rotation worse than it already was — or, traded anyone of value for Boyd, really.