3 DFAs Yankees need to make to salvage World Series hopes

Calling up two “prospects” that have already been here and one other to make his MLB debut clearly wasn’t the “spark” the New York Yankees needed after they took the momentum from Wednesday night’s epic win and used it to lose 9-2 to the Blue Jays on Thursday. No, we aren’t drawing conclusions after two nights, but how obvious is it that the team’s problems run much deeper than an injection of youth?

We’ll still argue there needs to be more of that to help, but it’s not going to be the antidote. Honestly, we’re not sure what the antidote exactly is, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Well, before calling up any more young talent, perhaps it’s time to cut bait with some veterans on the roster who clearly have no place on a contender.

The Yankees want to contend, right? They want to be that well-oiled machine that maintains a cushy division lead and then becomes the opponent nobody wants to face in October, yeah? Well then how does a team building toward those aspirations continue to waste valuable roster spots? What’s the end game here?

Wouldn’t you rather experiment with different players, give others more of a chance, and/or just simply rid yourself of something holding you back? Look at teams like the Dodgers, Astros, Braves and Mets, for example. Do you see them filling multiple roster spots with players that offer next to nothing?

The Yankees do! And if they want to save themselves from another year of embarrassment, then it’s time to make a few drastic decisions — if you can even call them that.

3 players the Yankees need to DFA to save their World Series hopes

3. Marwin Gonzalez

If you’re not going to use him, then lose him! Call up Oswald Peraza. Or, if you really want to be bold, call up Anthony Volpe, who you’ve refused to trade! Marwin Gonzalez has gotten 13 plate appearances since July 24 and hasn’t gotten a hit since July 6 (and it came off a position player in a blowout against the Pittsburgh Pirates). Anyone care to tell us what use he is on the roster? Maybe Aaron Boone forgot about him?

This isn’t an indictment on Gonzalez, either. He’s a versatile defender and switch hitter who clearly possesses value. But the Yankees, who have now struggled on offense as badly as anybody in the league over the last month, have opted to let him eat up a roster spot rather than try to spice up the lineup in any possible manner.

This is a front office/managerial fail and nothing else. But that’s usually what it is, right? Gonzalez was signed two years too late, and saving him for the postseason does absolutely nothing for this team. Get rid of him and give somebody — anybody — else reps.

1. Albert Abreu

If you didn’t already know this was the top candidate, then you haven’t been watching enough Yankees baseball this year. Albert Abreu, another product of the Yankees front office being unable to admit defeat, has never been good. He’s shown spurts of promise that may have suggested he could fulfill a low-leverage, innings-eating bullpen role — which, hey, has value! — but nothing else has given the Yankees a reason to keep him beyond a couple of weeks at a time.

Hand up, we thought it was egregious he was traded for Jose Trevino because, well, Trevino was bad before coming to New York and Abreu finally found his footing after falling flat with the Yankees his first two tries. But it worked out. Trevino is an All-Star (or, at least was) and Abreu was designated for assignment by the Rangers. And then again by the Royals. And then picked up by the Yankees because … the front office wanted to “double win” the Trevino trade. What better way to blow smoke up your bum than to acquire a diamond in the rough and then get back the player you traded for said diamond in the rough and manage to use him in a productive way?

But Abreu cannot be used in a productive way if the bullpen is thin, and he’s a borderline “contributor” even when the unit fully healthy. He’d never sniff a postseason roster. Again, his value is eating innings in the lowest leverage of situations to save other arms from overuse. That is it.

He hasn’t been awful with the Yankees since returning, but he has no discernible role that helps the team/bullpen, and he’s been dreadful when he’s had to fill meaningful spots as the relief injuries/regressions piled up. He’s now returning to the version of himself that likely convinced the Yankees to part with him in the first place.

Kick him out, promote any one of Richard Rodriguez, Ryan Weber or Greg Weissert, and you immediately have a better bullpen. The Yankees are 17-25 since the beginning of July. How many more deflating losses and uninspiring play can the team take before there’s no sail left in their wings six weeks from now?

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