Yankees: 3 untouchable players at MLB trade deadline

Wow, everybody. What a weird year to be determining trade deadline untouchables for the New York Yankees! Blessed to be alongside you all, mapping out the suddenly uncertain future of our favorite team.

Because — and this is important — this list just about 80% shorter than it would’ve been in January.

We’re excluding the obvious. Gerrit Cole won’t be touched. Giancarlo Stanton can’t be touched. But once you run through the names and consider the team’s situation as a whole … who can you say declaratively will not be moving along in a few weeks?

Gleyber Torres, Luke Voit and Gio Urshela were once the foundation. Can you really say there’s no chance they’ll be gone soon? Gary Sánchez has rebounded, barely missed the All-Star team, and suddenly has a big payday ahead of him both following 2021 in his final year of arbitration and entering free agency the next winter. Can you honestly say there’s zero chance the team sells high?

Aaron Judge……………………I mean, almost definitely not, but another 2022-23 free agent! People are talking! How high does that contract number go?

We’re not happy about any of this. You can’t count the number of times this offseason I said some variation of, “Well, at a certain point, these are your guys and you have to go win with them,” surrounding Trevor Story trade talks. You know what? These might not be your guys! Eternally frustrating.

Safer than determining who goes, though, is crafting a list of who stays. Not who you want to stay or can’t emotionally handle leaving, but who is absolutely going to be a member of the next great Yankees team — which could be 2022, if they work hard enough.

With long-term improvement and maintenance of the status quo in mind, we don’t foresee these three players going anywhere, in either a sell-high deal or a deadline package.

These 3 Yankees are untouchable at the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline.

3. Jasson Dominguez

Don’t worry, Yankee fans. They can’t and they won’t. Tuesday’s promotion to Low-A Tampa wasn’t just a final deadline showcase at a full-season level of minor-league baseball.

Unless…………no. Nope. No chance. No one’s available who would even require Dominguez’s services, unless the Red Sox wanted to talk about a Rafael Devers swap or the Pirates were curious about Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Ignoring the fact that it would be a crash course in how to piledrive a PR department that’s already been mangled by the Yankees’ 2021 backslide, there’s no one on the market for whom Dominguez should even enter the conversation. He’s fresh into Low-A ball at the age of 18. There’s a great chance he’s one of the game’s top 10 prospects by next winter. There are plenty of other Yankee prospects who could interest the masses, both this summer and this offseason. No way do the Yankees surrender their lottery ticket with such little data available about him.

That said … who do you even consider including Dominguez in a swap for? This sounds insane, but is there a starting pitcher alive you’d surrender him for? Pitchers are so volatile. Could you live with yourself if you’re Brian Cashman and you give up Dominguez for, say, Shane Bieber, only for the workload to eventually catch up to him? As far as we can tell — and maybe this is unreasonable, but so be it — the list starts and ends with the league’s generational offensive talents. Juan Soto, Vlad Jr., Shohei Ohtani … Devers maybe … there are truly less than zero options.

It’s at this point in the article when we ask you to ignore any Dominguez-for-Luis Castillo speculation that might’ve been printed prior to 2021. Thanks in advance.

1. Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge is untouchable not because he can’t or shouldn’t be touched, but because he won’t be touched.

Even though the Yankees are watching the Boston Red Sox grand experiment without Mookie Betts unfold, there is a less than zero percent chance they proactively hand over their greatest moneymaker and marketing tool in the midst of a depressing slog without marquee attractions.

Should they entertain a Judge trade? Again, I’ve heard the chatter. The Yankees print money hand over fist, and no large-scale contract extension should ever prevent them from signing stars to fill their gaps. They should be able to eat free agent mistakes. And yet … I’m being told the Giancarlo Stanton contract is hamstringing them? Even though they made Jacoby Ellsbury disappear? Even though the CBA could very well change dramatically this offseason?

There’s no way I trade Aaron Judge. It makes the team worse. But if the braintrust is going to pretend long-term deals complicate their future payrolls, then you at least have to consider the ramifications.

Beyond Judge, though … there’s no one else you can claim is immobile or essential. Fans have lost patience with Torres, Clint Frazier, and Miguel Andújar. The rotation is in shambles — Jordan Montgomery could be a wonderful No. 4 for this team for four years, but he could also net you a top-15 prospect if you’re going nowhere? Michael King? Deivi Garcia? Clarke Schmidt? Can’t commit to any of them. With an oversaturated high-profile shortstop market arriving this offseason, almost any infielder could be on the chopping block. The rest of the farm is thriving, but Dominguez is the only clear centerpiece — and those 40-man spots are awfully precious.

Stanton, Cole and DJ LeMahieu will be here long-term. Judge might be shopped if he played for any other franchise. But as long as they still sell the Judge’s Chambers and Foam Gavels, he’ll be here.

Whether or not he’ll be playing is another story.

Yankees: 3 players NYY need more from in second half of season

The New York Yankees need more from SO many of their players, but these three specifically need to step up in the second half of the season.