15 worst trades in New York Yankees history

8. March 13, 2022: Yankees Add IKF, Josh Donaldson's Massive Salary for Gary Sánchez, Gio Urshela

The Pros to This Trade: The Yankees' pitching staff is thriving with defense-first All-Star Jose Trevino behind the plate rather than Gary Sánchez, who remains unsigned this offseason. They also probably were eager to move off Gio Urshela (who has since moved onto the Angels), considering their current infield logjam.

The Cons? They added more members to that logjam! Josh Donaldson's immobile salary is now entrenched at third for another season, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa was tendered a contract for $6 million this season despite Oswald Peraza, Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera coming up behind him. Plus, the Yankees could've just non-tendered Sánchez instead of attaching him to any package, saving $9 million in the process.

If the Bombers had acted like the Old Yankees here, absorbing Donaldson's fat salary because Minnesota couldn't, then operating normally, that would've been one thing. But they sucked in Donaldson's cash, they played poor. They let his money hamstring them, too. That, plus Donaldson being whomped by the aging curve, turned this poorly-thought-out trade to mush.