3 Yankees who’ve boosted their trade value this spring

The New York Yankees will be buyers and not sellers the next time they take to the trade market — though you shouldn’t expect them to go utterly wild this summer.

Usually said sarcastically, the idea that Zack Britton and Luis Severino should be trade deadline additions is a very real thing this year, with the roster otherwise stocked with plenty of depth…for now.

When the deadline arrives, sure, we’ll probably feel differently and will be clamoring for the Yankees to add more bullpen reinforcements. Of course, we’ll also have more information about which currently-rostered players are actually…bad!

Odds are, despite any fanciful dreams you may have, the Yankees’ next maneuvers will be all about clearing players off the roster before having to make 40-man decisions about them.

It would’ve been…ideal for the team to get a lot more out of borderline 40-man members like Albert Abreu and Mike Tauchman, both of whom seem likely to be traded in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, neither has been particularly impressive; Tauchman’s two homers haven’t masked his average bat, and Abreu’s raw stuff has once again not translated to success.

This spring, you have to look pretty deep for non-essential prospects who’ve looked good in their limited opportunities, but these three have made some form of an impression. With no clear role on the Yanks moving forward, they’ve likely opened some eyes as third pieces in hypothetical trades before the time comes to add them to the 40-man mix.

These 3 fringe Yankees have boosted their profile this spring.

3. Glenn Otto

Count 25-year-old Glenn Otto among the young Yankees pitchers who got their career entirely derailed by the absence of a 2020 season.

A 2017 fifth-round pick who’s performed whenever he’s had the chance to, Otto missed most of 2018 after blood clot surgery (!) before losing ’20 through no fault of his own.

Surpassed on the organizational pecking order by a few more recent draftees who also haven’t gotten much run lately — like TJ Sikkema, Beck Way and Ken Waldichuk — Otto seems like a borderline case like Garrett Whitlock. The Yankees couldn’t find room for him when decision time came, and now he just might be an integral member of the Red Sox bullpen.

Perhaps he’ll end up being traded before a similar fate arrives.

This spring, Otto has definitely looked like a high-upside, back-of-the-trade-package arm in three appearances, striking out a trio in 2.1 hitless and scoreless innings.

2021 could be make-or-break for Otto, and he’ll likely start at High-A or Double-A. The late innings of this year’s Grapefruit League contests have served as a solid springboard for the righty thus far, and he’ll hope to continue to parlay that progress into more shine across the league.

2. Anthony Seigler

We wouldn’t blame you if you forgot all about Anthony Seigler, the 21-year-old catcher the Yankees selected in the first round out of high school back in 2018.

Since that day, we’ve only seen Seigler play 30 games above rookie ball; he batted .175 at Charleston in 2019, then missed the remainder of the year with a patella fracture after already being limited by a series of nicks and bruises.

Not great!

All it took was reappearing this spring to raise Seigler’s profile a bit from the absolute doldrums, but he’s managed to get into two games in recent days and battled impressively both times. His first appearance of March was an extended at-bat in Clearwater in which he worked a walk; overall, he’s 1-for-2, and will likely get more run with the minor leaguers in the final two weeks.

Seigler is firmly on the trade block right now, considering the Yankees certainly prefer their 2020 first-rounder Austin Wells, an advanced college bat who currently resides behind the plate. They’ve also used catcher Josh Breaux more often, who was selected behind Seigler in the second round in 2018.

The best ability for Seigler is availability, and two strong at-bats have started his spring comeback to relevance.