3 players the New York Yankees should keep and 3 they should trade

With three weeks to go before spring training, Yankees GM Brian Cashman is still working the phones.

Now, he might be calling to see if a few relievers would be willing to pay the Yankees for the privilege of putting on the pinstripes rather than take money from the payroll, but those are still technically phone calls!

Cashman is reportedly willing to explore maneuvers that would benefit the Yankees (mostly in the bullpen), but anything he does would have to fall in line with budgetary restrictions. They aren't as draconian as they've been in years past, but after losing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto and with a Juan Soto extension potentially ahead of them, they certainly exist.

Cashman would likely love the chance to swing one last trade and add rotation/bullpen depth. After all, the 40-man roster recently had enough spare room to help the Dodgers and absorb Jorbit Vivas. Now? It's totally stuffed, resulting in the Yankees having to cut three players in recent weeks who never got a chance to suit up for the team (Oscar González, Jeter Downs, Bubba Thompson).

If the Yankees can clear their 40-man with a maneuver that makes sense, they almost certainly will. That means it's time to find some takers for a few players who might be better suited elsewhere. It's also time to hold onto a few core chips who they'll probably be tempted to move, more likely at the deadline than prior to the season (Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease on Line 1).

3 players Yankees should trade (soon, maybe?) and 3 they should keep

Yankees Should Trade: Oswald Peraza

Oswald Peraza could be a nice fit as a slick fielding, late-inning defensive replacement shortstop/third baseman/second baseman off the bench. He also could get immediate run for the Yankees if DJ LeMahieu either trails off, fails to replicate his hot second half, or suffers an injury.

But Peraza is a top-100 prospect of recent vintage, and "depth piece/last resort" doesn't feel like the best use of that kind of player. His prospect shine/trade value have already been diminished, but the Yankees risk a critical devaluation of the asset here if they hold him any longer.

That said, if an Edward Cabrera swap/Mariners trade hasn't happened yet, it's possible the asset has already been devalued too much for Peraza to be a useful centerpiece. In that case, the Yankees might be stuck here.

Yankees Should Keep: Gleyber Torres

The Yankees are not the Brewers. The Yankees are not the Angels (and Torres is not Ohtani). There should be no regret about "letting Torres leave for nothing in free agency" if the Yankees opt to keep him for one more year as they attempt to chase a World Series. That's the Yankees' ambition, and they can't afford to reduce their firepower in what's currently Juan Soto's only season in pinstripes.

Now, if the team falls off by midseason? Torres should be the first out the door in any fire sale, and Peraza could absorb his role if he sticks around. But let's not think that way.

Yankees Should Trade: Jonathan Loaisiga

It's difficult to advocate for weakening the bullpen at a time when the team is reportedly searching for an extra option, if possible, and any Loaisiga trade must come with an effective replacement as a corresponding move/signing. We've already seen that losing Loaisiga does not constitute "addition by subtraction," considering how deeply the loss has hurt previous Yankees rosters.

But the annual loss of Loaisiga just keeps happening. At the end of last season, it seemed the righty might be headed for a non-tender after Aaron Boone spoke frankly about his repeated setbacks. Instead, he survived the end-of-year roster purge, but the Yankees should still look to move off his final year of team control and ink Hector Neris instead.

And they should also promote...

Yankees Should Keep: Clayton Beeter

Easily lost in the offseason shuffle -- remember when the Cardinals were rumored to love him in a potential Dylan Carlson package? -- Beeter has stuck around, and is all the more important this season after Jhony Brito and Randy Vàsquez were exiled to San Diego.

The Yankees appear to be big believers in Beeter and Will Warren, too -- or, at least, they envision both pitchers' potential contributions as being more effective than the fringe free agent talent still available for spot starts as we approach spring training.

Beeter's fastball hopped at the end of 2024 after a tweak, and the idea of him as a swingman is enticing. At this point, he feels far more valuable on the Yankees' staff than as a tack-on in a midseason deal.