Yankees could repeat their Jordan Montgomery move with risky Nestor Cortes trade

If Wednesday night, a 12-3 drubbing at the hands of the Mets to clinch a season-series sweep, wasn't the Yankees' breaking point, then it might've been a few days earlier when Nestor Cortes Jr. toed the rubber against the Rays.

Looking to make a statement in the team's first series out of the All-Star break, as well as a personal statement after his oddly timed tweet (sent during the ASG) hinting at jealousy towards the Yankees across the rest of the league.

It would've behooved Cortes to back up that brash attitude with an impressive performance on the mound, but instead he was lit up by the Rays' No. 9 hitter Alex Jackson as part of a home run barrage. Jackson's three-run blast represented the Yankees' league-leading 14th homer allowed to a No. 9 hitter this season, a total that went up to 15 when Tyrone Taylor took Gerrit Cole deep in Wednesday's blowout. Combining Saturday's start with the shattering of his Twitter silence, it seems fair to wonder if Cortes' mind is elsewhere as the trade deadline approaches. Can he see the writing on the wall?

It's possible that the ex-All-Star's value on the open market isn't strong enough for the Yankees to be tempted to deal him away. After all, his home/road splits (2.48 ERA in the Bronx, 6.04 on the road) would concern any team, given that you'd be removing Yankee Stadium from his resumé.

Still, the 2024 trade deadline seems poised to be evocative of the summer of 2022, when Brian Cashman was forced to get creative to salvage a season that started so promising, but had since been pushed to the brink. That year, he brought in a wealth of talent (that never gelled), and shockingly dealt away Jordan Montgomery, sliding in Frankie Montas in his place. It was a widely questioned move, given that the Yankees added a starter and subtracted one rather than bringing in a pair for additional depth. Cashman's justification, though, was that Montgomery would not be making a postseason start for the Yankees, in an ideal world. With Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodón, and potentially an addition coming next week, are the Yankees preparing to similarly thank Cortes for his service?

Would Yankees trade Nestor Cortes Jr. at MLB Trade Deadline?

If so, slotting in his farewell at Fenway Park this weekend feels like a particularly cruel joke.

Cortes is making just $3.95 million this season, prorated down to the year's two remaining months. There certainly isn't a monetary reason to deal him; it would be a straightforward performance judgment. The Yankees would have to believe that they've already seen Cortes' best (which has been, for the most part, valuable in the first half), as well as be confident that they would be able to exceed his future production and more. If they want to avoid the pitfalls of the Montgomery swap, they'd better not rely on Cole, Gil and Schmidt, and should instead add an arm like Jack Flaherty or Erick Fedde to complete the picture.

To add to the speculative similarities ... might the Cardinals, who dealt Harrison Bader for Montgomery, be interested in a similar trade? Offseason signings Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson have been solid if unspectacular, and the current rotation notably lacks a single left-hander. Is Brendan Donovan available? What about the versatile Tommy Edman, whose troublesome ankle is still giving him pain? Per reports, he isn't currently in Bader's walking boot, but the similarities there would be significantly spooky.

They'd also be difficult to ignore as we attempt to get inside Cashman's mind one last time.