Yankees land short-term Aaron Judge replacement in trade for lefty-mashing OF

The smoke out of New York Yankees camp indicated that they were not done pursuing right-handed bats this week, even after acquiring Amed Rosario. Against all odds, the Yankees just imported their third bat of trade deadline season on Wednesday, all before bringing in a single pitcher.

Austin Slater of the Chicago White Sox is headed to the Bronx, and he'll bring with him an .859 OPS with five home runs this season against left-handed pitching. Much like Rosario, he's very valuable if you deploy him correctly. Think Rob Refsnyder or Romy Gonzalez with Boston. He might not be a needle-mover in a vacuum, but smart rosters use players like Austin Slater well.

He'll also help the Yankees mask Aaron Judge's injury departure, even though New York's brass claims Judge will be back in a matter of days. Slater cost the Yankees a single minor-leaguer, and will likely cost Oswald Peraza his roster spot.

Now ... if Judge returns healthy, the Yankees have five outfielders. Is something else brewing?

Yankees acquire Austin Slater from Chicago White Sox; updates to come

The Yankees were also rumored to be considering Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, and David Hamilton in the days preceding the deadline, but Slater provides similar platoon pop and likely came at a lessened cost. Don't rule out another Yankees-Twins deal in the deadline's final 30+ hours, though, considering now is the time for New York to move onto filling their numerous pitching gaps, in both the rotation and bullpen.

Is there a chance they'll now play short-handed and flip Trent Grisham to a team looking for immediate help on their MLB roster? Does this increase the chances of a Dylan Cease trade? What's next will be equal parts fascinating and terrifying. Slater was the obvious. Now comes the ridiculous.

Though Peraza survived the Yankees' first two infielder acquisitions, he won't make it to Wednesday night's game, as long as Slater can arrive on time. The former Yankees top prospect was unable to seize repeated opportunities this season, and he'll now be looking to ply his trade elsewhere (unless he clears waivers after a DFA).