Further details of Yankees' Adley Rutschman trade talks, surprise Blue Jays rumor revealed

Different teams fall in love with different portions of a club's available talent all the time, but after the latest intel from Ken Rosenthal, it seems safe to say the Baltimore Orioles had lofty expectations for an Adley Rutschman trade no matter who they dealt with, but were living in totally different universes when it came to the Yankees and Red Sox.

While we admonished the Yankees for letting the Red Sox step in front of them for Rutschman on deadline day, they objectively paid a hefty price, gutting the top end of their farm by sending three of their top five prospects to Baltimore, alongside starting catcher Carlos Narvaez and underrated name Harold Rivas. If the Yankees had completed a Rutschman trade, it reportedly wouldn't have cost them George Lombard Jr., Dax Kilby, or the equivalent top-five prospect gutting. Instead, the O's preferred the Yankees' MLB talent, and wanted "three major leaguers, two of whom were controllable starting pitchers, according to one source with knowledge of the discussions" (subscription required).

It goes without saying — unless they were targeting Carlos Rodón! — that they were picking through Will Warren, Elmer Rodriguez, and Ryan Weathers. They also, purportedly, sought a major league catcher like Narvaez, which would be Austin Wells (probably not JC Escarra, but possibly Escarra). Thinking the Yankees should've been bold and brazen enough to do that and block their rival is one thing. But pretending the Yankees and Red Sox were asked for the same type of player is foolhardy.

Yankees attempted Blue Jays trade as well as Orioles-Adley Rutschman talks

The Yankees cast a wide net at the deadline, purportedly even going to Toronto and asking about Kevin Gausman to thicken out the rotation, per Rosenthal. Who knows? Maybe the deals were even contingent on one another. Flip Warren/Rodriguez to Baltimore — or maybe to San Diego for Mason Miller/Adrian Morejon — then backfill with a more experienced veteran option.

Any way you slice it, Brian Cashman still did come up short at the trade deadline. Any two bullpen options would've helped thicken out the Yankees' bullpen, a group that's still too reliant on precarious health and returning starters to get to the finish line. This season will be the ultimate rebuke or vindication for Cashman.

But he does get the lion's share of the blame in a world where it takes two to tango and opposing teams never seem to link up with reality when they're chatting trade parameters with the Yankees. Cashman didn't see the value in shopping one shelf below, while the rest of the fanbase is in pretty solid agreement that he likely should've. We're a few weeks away from seeing who was right.

One thing we can all agree on, though? If Cashman had surrendered Warren, Rodriguez, and Wells for Rutschman, who's nursing an elbow injury and hitting .170 with a 44 OPS+ for the Sox (The Heliot Ramos Zone!), this fanbase would be losing its mind.

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