The New York Yankees already made a pre-trade deadline splash over the weekend when they brought in Jazz Chisholm from the Miami Marlins. The slugger has already made an impact, logging a hit, a stolen base and a run scored in his first game on Sunday. He followed that up on Monday with two homers and stellar play at third base.
But the Yankees cannot be done after that. This team still has many needs, even though they just scored seven or more runs in four straight games and seemingly dug their offense out from the depths.
That doesn't change the fact there are still many roster deficiencies that Brian Cashman and the front office need to fix. It starts with Jazz, and it probably ends with four other moves to help truly propel the organization's 2024 World Series hopes.
Yankees' 2024 trade deadline needs to look exactly like this (or something like it)
Trade Nestor Cortes and Gleyber Torres (and maybe Alex Verdugo)
We're going to be blunt for the sake of this timely exercise. The Yankees can upgrade over Nestor Cortes, and he's proven unsuitable to pitch on the road. He's probably not getting a playoff start, and the fact that he's completely crumbled in his last three outings before the deadline tells you all you need to know.
Torres should've been gone years ago, and a fake mini offensive resurgence shouldn't fool the front office. He's still making baffling errors and he showed once again that he isn't a team player when he publicly rejected the idea of logging reps at other positions to make room for Chisholm.
Verdugo might still be a fit, but his two-month downturn was a legitimate problem. He's not a long-term fit, so there's little reason for him to stay. The "dawg" mentality is long gone, and the Yankees have Jasson Dominguez coming back, with Chisholm able to log centerfield reps too. At this point, it's probably best to keep Trent Grisham as the bench option.
Acquire 3-4 pitchers (one starter, three relievers)
Jack Flaherty! The rumors are alive and well. Blake Snell could be good, too, but the Giants might not be willing to move him. Either way, there are options. Tyler Anderson wouldn't be a terrible idea, either. One of those guys would be perfect with Cortes being sent away for ... a reliever? Another bat?
The Yankees need to rework their bullpen badly. Props to all the gents who have come and gone, providing innings for a hobbled unit, but this cannot continue down the stretch and into the postseason. The relief market is rather high in price, based on what we saw in the Padres-Rays Jason Adam deal, but Cashman has frequently worked his magic on this front.
Some names to keep an eye on: Kyle Finnegan, Camilo Doval, Pete Fairbanks, Tanner Scott, Jason Foley, Hector Neris, Luis Garcia, Lucas Erceg, Jorge Lopez. Cashman probably will go a tier below, however, to avoid spending top dollar.
Fix First Base or Third Base
Anthony Rizzo's August return should not be the first base solution. Jon Berti's uncertain calf injury should not be the guaranteed third base solution. The Yankees need to fix at least one of these issues before the deadline.
What could that look like? How about ... trading Jose Trevino for a reliever? Acquiring Yandy Diaz from the Rays (maybe with Fairbaks?!) and putting Ben Rice on the bench as a backup catcher/first baseman? If that happens, we wouldn't have to worry about third base.
But if that route isn't possible and the Yankees will remain stubborn about Rizzo coming back and playing every day, then going the distance for Matt Chapman (Giants) or Ryan McMahon (Rockies) feels like the safest move, no matter the cost. They both offer elite defense and will definitely be able to produce offensively next to all the talented names in this lineup.
Option Yoendrys Gomez and Carlos Narvaez, DFA Michael Tonkin
This clears three roster spots. Trading Cortes and one of Torres/Verdugo clears another two. That's five. That allows the Yankees to make five additions. And guess what? If they still want to welcome back relievers Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross, Nick Burdi and Lou Trivino back into the fold at some point, they have guys like Tim Hill, Caleb Ferguson and Jake Cousins that can get the boot. We wouldn't advise that, because it's going to be hard for any of those four names to come back from injury and pitch at a high level with so little time to build back up, but the option is there.
New York also has to welcome back Clarke Schmidt in 3-4 weeks. We'll worry about that when the time comes. There might have to be a roster crunch with a name we wouldn't prefer getting DFA'd or optioned, but that's life when you're trying to win a championship.
If Cashman gets at least half of these moves done, we'll call it a successful trade deadline. After the Chisholm acquisition, it's clear he understands the assignment, so we won't be getting another Keynan Middleton deadline.