FanSided

3 trade targets that will hurt Yankees rather than help them

By Adam Weinrib |
Chicago Cubs v Minnesota Twins
Chicago Cubs v Minnesota Twins / David Berding/GettyImages
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Here's what the Yankees need at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline: Quality outfield bats, preferably left-handers, who can control the zone and have a fair degree of pop.

Here's what the Yankees don't need at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline: Big swing-and-miss guys with injury concerns who could help the team bash, but are more likely to disappear instead. You know, the kind of trade targets opposing fans seem to be sending to the Yankees for the sole purpose of increasing their chances of mocking them. "Bro, how did you not know it was a bad idea to trade for 2015 Chris Davis, even though I said you should do it?!? IDIOT!"

This year's deadline might be a quiet one. The teams that are clear sellers are all-caps SELLERS ... but does anybody really want to buy anything from the Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals? Meanwhile, teams like the Red Sox and Cardinals could either fall out of contention by August or be five games up on a playoff position. It's too early to tell. The Brewers could light up the night with Willy Adames and Corbin Burnes. They could also ... keep both and be a World Series dark horse.

That's left the Yankees guessing. Luckily, their search for upgrades is fairly specialized. Not a left-hander? Not an outfielder? Not going to provide rotation help, in case Carlos Rodón can't return? Not interested.

The Yankees might be better off shopping for relative bargains here rather than throwing all their chips in one flawed basket. These top-tier trade options could exacerbate their issues rather than solve anything.

HONORABLE MENTION: Marcus Stroman -- pfff, as if the Yankees would even entertain it. Would be a nice rotation piece! Would never, ever, in a million years come here. Maybe Brian Cashman should lead Stroman's agent down the rabbit hole so we can get a fresh batch of mean tweets.

3 Yankees trade targets who'll make New York's problems worse

Tyler O'Neill, St. Louis Cardinals

OK...fine...when Tyler O'Neill was benched in early April, it was intriguing to dream about the Yankees stealing him from a Cardinals team with an outfield surplus. Who cares about the strikeouts? He hits bombs! When he's healthy!

Well ... now that O'Neill seems to be closer to the market than the "safe zone," it's fair to have second thoughts. Breathlessly sending a whiff-prone right-handed hitter the Yankees' way doesn't seem like the prudent move at the moment. Neither does sending them someone who fell out of the Cards' favor due to perceived lack of hustle, then proceeded to hit the Injured List on May 4 with a lower back strain, then never return.

Oh, and O'Neill is the kind of super jacked that has frustrated Yankees fans for nearly a decade. If Giancarlo Stanton's trips to the IL frustrate you, then you won't enjoy O'Neill, who might be Eric Cressey's newest nightmare. Did we mention that, while active this season, he hit just .228 with a 71 OPS+ in 92 at-bats?

O'Neill fits the Yankees' current acquisition mold. But that's, like, the problem.

Cody Bellinger, Chicago Cubs

Cody Bellinger might've found something in Chicago that helped his swing return to form, but ... then he busted his knee up making a leaping catch against the wall in Houston in May. Nothing was torn, except perhaps the Yankees front office when asked whether or not they should take a chance on him.

Before the injury, Bellinger posted a .271 average with seven homers, nine steals, 20 RBI, and a 124 OPS+, worth 1.5 bWAR. He was everything the Cubs hoped he'd be and everything the Dodgers feared he might become. If Chicago continues to spiral in a mucked-up National League, they might do well to trade him while the iron's hot.

But ... for the Yankees ... there's so much troublesome stuff here. That salary ($17.5 million for 2023). The injury history (Bellinger's shoulder popped out in the 2020 postseason and may have thrown something semi-permanently off course in his swing). The strikeout numbers, which made him the biggest liability on the big-money Dodgers two years running.

There's a chance Bellinger sustains this level of production when he returns. There's a chance he ends up an intriguing option for the Yankees on a multi-year deal next winter. That's how this usually goes, right? The Yankees commit multiple years to someone who reverts back to their trouble spots as soon as they sign the contract? Huh. Maybe the Yankees should trade for him, hope for the best in 2023, then let someone else re-sign him. Or they can just avoid the whiff worries entirely. The lack of certainty here probably isn't worth pursuing.

Lance Lynn (and Lucas Giolito?), Chicago White Sox

The last time the Yankees tried to shore up their rotation by plucking the underutilized Lance Lynn from his post-Cardinals purgatory with the Minnesota Twins, it went ... kind of OK! They believed Lynn had more value left under the hood, following a 5.10 ERA first half in Minneapolis, and they were right. He whiffed 61 men in 54.1 innings with the Bronx Bombers, bringing much-needed attitude to the mound, until he ... fell out of favor down the stretch, for whatever reason, and couldn't crack the postseason rotation.

Instead of being used to establish dominance early, he came into Game 1 in the fifth inning after JA Happ had already allowed five earned runs, then entered to clean up Luis Severino's mess in Game 3 and ... didn't (0.1 IP, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk). That was the last time he ever toed the mound in pinstripes.

As it turns out, the Yankees were right. There was more under the hood. Plenty more! Lynn went on to sign in Texas and deliver two top-10 Cy Young seasons before being dealt to Chicago and delivering another one. Now 36, it seems he might've entered a different era this offseason, though; his 6.55 ERA and -0.9 bWAR are too marks the Yankees front office won't envy (yes, even though he's still striking out 10.2 men per nine innings, comparable to his 10.1 mark with the Yanks in 2018).

Plus, you can add Lynn to the list of active participants in MLB who hate the Yankees. If he didn't hate them after his ill-fated 2018 stint in pinstripes and strange postseason misuse, then he certainly does now, based on his opinion on Aaron Judge's sideways eyes. Drill him! Drill him again! OK, guy.

His White Sox teammate Lucas Giolito might be the premier option on the market this summer, but if the Yankees are looking for something more than a rental innings-eater, we might preach caution there, too. Giolito's ERA of 4.08 is a half-run higher than his glory days, and his xERA of 4.54 indicates there's another layer of regression coming.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

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