Yankees: Don’t get your hopes up for trading for these 3 players

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 22: Pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on June 22, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 22: Pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on June 22, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
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Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

“The New York Yankees are going to make some additions at the trade deadline this year,” we say to ourselves every night into a mirror as a single tear falls.

But this time … it’s true! We think. Maybe. You know what, who knows?

Center field is such a glaring need that selling MLB teams will likely make Brian Cashman pay a Yankees tax in triplicate. After all, if you straight up forget to add depth behind the oft-injured Aaron Hicks, that’s on you. You’ll be asked to pay up.

Someone to give Brett Gardner some rest would be fantastic. A lefty bat with moderate power might just change the entire balance of the lineup. And it wouldn’t kill this team to add some starting pitching depth, considering Jordan Montgomery and Domingo German are joining Gerrit Cole at Fenway this weekend … and it’s the right call, featuring the three strongest options right now.

When you envision a successful trade deadline, though, you should probably keep the following targets out of your thoughts. Over the past few weeks, they’ve gone from reality to fantasy — and maybe a few were already dancing in the realm of the fantastic to begin with.

This is not even to mention kings of offseason speculation like Kevin Gausman and Luis Castillo. Gausman, as a few folks suspected, has leveled up this year for the Giants. Unfortunately, that “next level” has made him the second-best pitcher in baseball behind Jacob deGrom, and the Giants are the class of the NL West (we still don’t get it). He’s going nowhere.

As for Castillo? He’s 2-10 with a 5.61 ERA. The guy you all wanted to consider dangling Gleyber Torres for in the offseason no longer exists — and Torres isn’t some great shakes, either.

For now, these three trade options that were floated in April and May are the ones we’re focused on debunking. As of now, not gonna happen.

These 3 Yankees trade options won’t be happening at the MLB Trade Deadline.

3. Ketel Marte

Even before Ketel Marte recently pulled up lame (prepping for putting on the Pinstripes!), this was never going to happen.

Brian Cashman is a reasonable man — too reasonable for many of us to take. He doesn’t overpay. He sits on his prospects too long until they leak off the roster and walk to the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft. He isn’t proactive, and that’s part of the reason this thin team has picked up free players like Rougned Odor throughout the year.

That said … you really think Cashman would survey this current landscape where the Yankees are a few games out in the Wild Card race with no indications they’re more than a fringe contender and dump 4-5 top prospects for a centerpiece?

Marte would likely be a star in the Bronx, and is absolutely someone who should be considered, but that’s a pretty massive shakeup in the middle of what feels like a lost season anyway. Everyone but Jasson Dominguez would need to be on the table, and the extra half-season of control (Marte is locked down through 2022, but his contract features team options for the next two seasons) means that even The Martian might come up in conversations.

Would we make this trade? Hell yes. Anything but Jasson. Cashman doesn’t think that way, though, and the Diamondbacks won’t be entering negotiations trying to give the Yankees a present. Won’t happen.

Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /

2. Joey Gallo

What once seemed like a “done deal” is now done in an entirely different way.

Joey Gallo will not be coming to the New York Yankees this summer, and the momentum seems to have slowed since back in May due to Gallo’s own volition.

He recently told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that not only does he not want to be dealt, but he instead wants to stay in Texas long-term.

Gallo said he also has made it known to both the Rangers and Boras that the size of a potential contract extension is not going to be what drives him away from the Rangers. “I haven’t even talked about money,” Gallo said Friday before the Rangers opened a 10-game homestand. “Everybody keeps talking about money. It’s not money. I never want money. I want to be here, and I want to be here with a team that values me. Money is money. We can figure that out.”

So … there it is! If you were among the Yankee fans who didn’t want any part of Gallo’s prodigious 50-homer lefty power and Gold Glove defense because he strikes out too often (as if that’s a major issue for any of MLB’s other high-performing teams), then you got what you want.

Gallo has continued to shine for a 20-games-under-.500 Texas team in recent weeks, hitting 13 homers, accruing 2.1 WAR, getting on base at a .384 clip and posting a 123 OPS+. We’d enjoy that roaming the outfield in the Bronx, filling in at center and first base, and changing the righty-heavy complexion of the Yankees lineup. However, there’s no point in figuring out how that might work now. A lot would have to change regarding Gallo’s contract status for Texas to ditch the face of their franchise and send him somewhere he’s not “wanted” after all.

Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

1. Max Scherzer

I mean … asking about a Yankees-Max Scherzer trade was fanciful to begin with, but we just couldn’t get it out of our heads that the spiraling Nationals would surely trade him somewhere, it wouldn’t be us, we’d get angry, and the deal would swing a title run Verlander-style.

But then something funny happened along the way towards us getting preemptively mad about the Yankees passing on his hefty salary: the Nationals got good again.

Washington is charging hard in the NL East while waiting for Stephen Strasburg to return. Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber have hit another level, putting their molasses Aprils in the rearview mirror (the Yankees welcomed them to the stadium at the right time). Scherzer, who grabbed headlines for his sticky feud with Joe Girardi that spilled into a gladiator battle on the infield grass in Philly, has pitched as well as he ever has, striking out 112 in 82.1 innings this season.

We’re not giving up the fight here by any means. Scherzer will still be a free agent after this season, and the Yankees — post-luxury tax and mid-negotiations for the new CBA — should show up to his doorstep with Andy Pettitte and whatever bottle of wine swayed Gerrit Cole in his negotiations. Even at age 37, Scherzer is still extremely worth wooing at a high AAV for two or three more years.

Scherzer’s choice of his next destination might very well be title-swinging, but that decision will not come this summer. We don’t need to worry about the Yankees letting the Astros get Mad Max, all the while pridefully touting their luxury tax numbers … we don’t think.

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