Yankees Rumors: New York should be wary of selling way too low on future No. 1 prospect

At the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline, the Yankees are in perfect position to pull off a hybrid retool. They're in the thick of the Wild Card race and have played like an AL East contender with Aaron Judge; there's no reason to throw in the towel altogether (unless Judge is ruled out for the season).

That said, their offense was putrid enough to merit Brian Cashman's first in-season firing of a Yankees coach in 25 years. That's bad. That warrants skepticism. There's also no reason for them to buy rentals with reckless abandon, gutting their farm system in the process.

According to the latest buzz, rival teams still seem intent on selling them on doing some gutting. "Really? No gutting? Not at all? Not even a little gutting? Come onnnnnn!"

Per Andy Martino of SNY, teenaged shortstop prospect Roderick Arias, the Yankees' big-money signee from a year and a half ago, has come up repeatedly in trade talks. He remains on the outside looking in of their Top 10, but is firmly on helium watch; once he graduates from short-season ball, he'll likely climb far closer to No. 1 if he doesn't ascend the mountain entirely.

In other words, that the exact type of prospect teams will try to steal as a secondary piece from a desperate buyer. Do not fall for it, Yankees. You might be alright, but you're not good enough to be desperate (unless Sean Casey authors a 14-game winning streak to end July).

Yankees could be tempted to trade Roderick Arias at 2023 MLB Trade Deadline

Arias' statistics aren't much to go on so far, but in limited 2023 duty, he's already crushed six homers with a .955 OPS in 83 at-bats. One of those came off a deconstructed Alek Manoah in the FCL. Not sure you could ask for more from a ballyhooed stateside debut.

The Francisco Lindor comps have already come for Arias -- again, even though we have ~90 Floridian at-bats to judge (he debuted last season in the Dominican and struggled through a wrist issue). They've been years in the making. The international market ... eh, perhaps we shouldn't all know so much about it, huh? Sort of creates unrealistic expectations. Regardless, that doesn't sound like the kind of guy who should be flipped for Jeimer Candelario.

As Martino pointed out, Arias may be the organization's current favorite to be the Yankees' long-term shortstop, with Anthony Volpe eventually moving to second base. That doesn't mean Oswald Peraza will be moved; the Yankees reportedly haven't discussed that alternative. Maybe Peraza can play third in the 2023 season's second half, with Volpe moving across the bag to make room for Arias in 2025? The Yanks'll never know if some team goads them into a foolish rush job this summer, though.

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