3 Yankees prospects you probably haven't heard of who could change the trade deadline

The New York Yankees have a plethora of trade deadline holes and their most aggressive competition in the AL East, the Red Sox and Rays, have already shown the willingness to seriously engage in the trade market this year.

That means it's time for the Bombers to get cracking and expand their efforts to land a power-hitting catcher, swing-and-miss in the bullpen, another bat who could help, and potentially even veteran rotation insurance.

In the process, expect them to go deep into their own farm system rather than centering packages around George Lombard Jr. and Carlos Lagrange. These three overlooked names are having the type of seasons that snag attention, though they may not have reached a non-expert's radar.

3 overlooked trade deadline sweeteners from Yankees' farm system (and how they could be used)

Xavier Rivas

It's no coincidence that the Double-A Somerset Patriots put out a graphic on Friday detailing Rivas' ridiculous last seven starts. He's not an unknown quantity in larger circles, ranking 25th in the system in Pipeline's estimation, but he's beginning to reach another level that isn't adequately reflected in his year's worth of statistics, with the best ERA (1.07), WHIP (0.68), and BAA (.092) in all the minors over his past seven starts.

On the whole, Rivas has struck out 101 men in 69 1/3 innings, and his plus changeup is legitimately a differentiating factor that separates him from the rest of the projectable pack. The lefty is becoming more like a No. 2 piece in a package rather than a throw-in, and the San Diego Padres, always in need of starting pitching, could view him favorably in exchange for Adrian Morejon, quite likely the best reliever who'll move this summer. Rivas is like a left-handed Drew Thorpe.

DJ Gladney

Keeping the "past Yankees trade patterns" going, Gladney's powerful Double-A breakout this year resembles last summer's rise of Dillon Lewis. That earned Lewis a centerpiece role in the Ryan Weathers trade, and he fits the Marlins' archetype. What are the Marlins? June's hottest team, or the club with a middling July under their belts, dropping them from the Wild Card field to the thick of the race? Knowing Peter Bendix, he'd love to thread the needle and sell a little bit, at the very least.

Still unranked despite crushing 17 homers with an .800 OPS at Somerset, the 25-year-old ex-White Sox (16th-rounder all the way back in 2019) could be an intriguing piece for a team on the fringes of contention. If the Marlins want to trade Lake Bachar/Anthony Bender/John King/Michael Petersen from their bullpen surplus, maybe Gladney's recently thunderous bat would be a secondary match.

Stiven Marinez

Seemingly every year, the Yankees tack on a potential lottery ticket in the Florida Complex League to make a larger trade package more enticing, adding projectible teenage talent to get things across the finish line. There's been plenty of chatter about outfielder Wilberson De Pena this year, the 19-year-old outfielder who's raked since coming over in the Oswald Peraza trade (and is slightly too old for the level), but there's been less conversation about Stiven Marinez, the 18-year-old shortstop who slots in two places behind De Pena (17th vs. 19th) in MLB Pipeline's post-Draft Yankees top 30.

Marinez's stats don't ... really matter, but he's hitting .298 with five homers and 28 steals in his second straight summer in Rookie Ball. Expect him to become relevant if the Yankees are trying to make a larger package for a controllable asset more enticing. You need as many shortstops as you can get — and you can always move them to other positions as they grow and age out — but a teenaged middle infielder shouldn't be standing in the way of anything the Yankees do in this portion of Aaron Judge's/Gerrit Cole's window and should be coveted.

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