Yankees’ latest roster move could help them ahead of trade deadline

Injuries have plagued the New York Yankees yet again. Have you heard that one before?

That narrative has now taken centerstage in 2021 after it was the talk of the town from 2018-2020. At first, this year’s narrative was just the Yankees underperforming to maddening degrees. Now, they’ve been forced to put out skeleton lineups since Friday.

It’ll be no different on Tuesday when they host the Philadelphia Phillies for a two-game set. Outfielder Trey Amburgey is the latest to hit the shelf, which has further thinned an already laughable outfield situation for the Bombers.

He’s been placed on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring issue and Estevan Florial has gotten the call from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Florial’s been rock solid in the minors this year, but nothing special. He’s slashing .211/.315/.404 with eight home runs, 25 RBI and nine stolen bases while playing a solid center field across 43 games at Triple-A.

Now that he’ll get some playing time with the big league club, could it actually help the Yankees before the July 31 trade deadline?

Could Estevan Florial’s promotion help the Yankees before the trade deadline?

Perhaps Florial’s presence can help in one of two ways. Maybe he’s productive over the next week or so and the Yankees view him as a viable player to keep around for the remainder of the year as the team copes with injuries.

Maybe.

Either that, or maybe some solid production can convince another team that he’s worthy of being a main figure in a trade package to net the Yankees another asset, like a controllable starting pitcher (Jose Berrios?) or another veteran outfielder (Starling Marte?).

At the very least, Florial is an intriguing prospect. His rookie status is intact through this season, he has a sweet lefty swing, and can play multiple outfield positions if needed. His combo of power and speed — if he can display it at the MLB level — should be intriguing for other teams in search of prospects that can contribute rather soon.

He’ll likely have 10 days of regular reps to make it happen. The Yankees are down Amburgey, Tim Locastro, Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Miguel Andújar and Aaron Hicks at the moment, with most of those guys out either for the foreseeable future or longer.

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Maybe Florial just ends up working for the Yankees and can utilize the short porch to his advantage with that stroke. Throw in some aggressive/timely baserunning and the Yankees may not need to chuck a high-priced package at someone for an outfielder when they’d rather spend that capital on pitching.

Look for Florial to get the nod against Aaron Nola and the Phillies on Tuesday, and let the speculation begin at 7:05 p.m. ET.

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