Update on the very real prospects Yankees traded for Jake Bird, 18 Austin Slater ABs

Brian Cashman, after leaving himself an offseason mess, tried his best to clean up his own thing at the Yankees' midseason trade deadline. He revamped the bullpen, adding David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird. He built the bench, importing Austin Slater and Amed Rosario. He maybe netted himself a starting shortstop in Jose Caballero? He changed the complexion of third base with Ryan McMahon.

Yet, somehow, despite doing probably the best work he could've hoped to, the Yankees' impressive record since the deadline has very little to do with most of these guys. Bednar's been incredible at the back end, Caballero has been a menace, and McMahon has provided the bare minimum (all glove, no bat). Upgrades, certainly. But Doval has been mostly scary, Bird is in the high minors (and struggling), and ... well, how much impact can two bench bats really make in two months, especially if they both get injured?

The Yankees' decisions to slightly overpay for Bird after falling in love with — say it with me! — his years of control, as well as dole out a real prospect for a part-time Aaron Judge solution in Slater (forget about the injury), look tough to justify a month and a half later.

While 2024 fourth-round pick Gage Ziehl, swapped for Slater, may not be the cream of the Yankees' pitching crop, he's shown enough that he could've been part of a higher-profile swap down the line. And trading Roc Riggio, a top-10 prospect, alongside pitcher Ben Shields for Bird was silly at the time and egregious now.

Yankees Prospect Update: Better recent results from Gage Ziehl, Roc Riggio after trade deadline exodus

Shields has a 2.33 ERA in five starts with Double-A Hartford — and, let me tell you, that alone would be enough to raise someone's eyebrows, given what Bird currently looks like and the two games he helped lose in the blink of an eye with the Yankees. Riggio struggled to find his power stroke after switching Eastern League clubhouses, but he's hitting .313 in September and is up to a .735 OPS in the Colorado system. He looks like the same agitator he always did. Even if the Yankees didn't envision him as their second baseman of the future, how could this possibly have been the best use for him?

Ziehl, a converted bulk reliever, has a 4.01 ERA in six starts in the White Sox system, and has struck out 90 men in 107 innings overall this year. Even if he never breaks out ... Slater has two hits as a Yankee and a -37 OPS+. He likely won't make the playoff roster. It's an all-time goofy-looking trade, regardless of Ziehl's future.

And this isn't even counting Rosario, who cracked his shoulder running into a wall and has only made 23 plate appearances. We're being generous there because ... those 23 plate appearances have been awesome (nine hits) and he's been an excellent hype man. Still, Clayton Beeter has 28 Ks in 19 1/3 innings in DC with only seven hits allowed. He's walked 12. Will he ever get over that? Who knows? Nats' problem now, but they'll take it.

You never know what's going to happen long-term when you go all in at the trade deadline, but ... if you're making short-term plays, you've got to cross your fingers that they at least ... play. Slater spiking his own hamstring was a worst-case scenario, but that doesn't mean this little deal is averse to criticism. Cashman could still get away with this becoming a classic "nothing-for-nothing" trade, but as of now, it appears he swapped three somethings for the least possible you can receive in return.