Yankees: 3 players NYY should’ve traded at peak value over last few years

2. Mike Tauchman

The Yankees could’ve sold high on Mike Tauchman in the offseason no doubt.

Another Mike the Yankees can no longer trade! Cashman stole Tauchman from the Colorado Rockies for a struggling pitching prospect, and the “Sock Man” burst onto the scene in 2019, slashing .277/.361/.504 with 46 runs scored, 13 home runs and 47 RBI in 87 games while filling in for Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton with admirable defense.

That was his first string of consistent action at the MLB level, too. He’d previously logged 52 total games with the Rox between 2017 and 2018, hitting a measly .153. Though Tauchman’s OBP has remained constant since last year, he’s endured a 4-for-34 slump as of late that has unveiled his true weaknesses.

Now, he’s hitting .247 with a .667 OPS. He has 0 home runs and just 9 RBI. Like Ford, he’s regressed to the mean, showing rival GMs that he indeed cannot hit the ball hard consistently, barreling just 1.9% of pitches this season with a weak 85.4 MPH exit velocity and a 26.4% hard hit rate, all of which are in the bottom 8% of the entire MLB.

His defense has taken a step back, too. After registering a 1.6 dWAR in 2019, he’s a -0.1 in 2020. Can’t really trade that for much now, can you? We’re not sure why Cashman didn’t get out of the casino while he could here. The Yankees have plenty of outfielders, and depth at that position is by far the easiest to come by.