By: Ross Sutton

The 2024 season has been eerily similar to the previous two seasons for the Yankees, as they were one of the best teams in the league over the first two months of the season, and then, due to injuries and overall poor play, they have struggled to win games in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. To be fair, the quality of the roster this year feels much more like the 2022 team that eventually reached the ALCS in the playoffs (where they were swept by the Houston Astros) than the 2023 team that missed the postseason entirely. With that being said, there are a handful of obvious holes in the current Yankees roster as D.J. LeMahieu looks like a shell of his former self, the bullpen needs another arm (or two), and Alex Verdugo has earned less playing time with his prolonged slump. Luckily though, Brian Cashman and the Yankee front office have the chance to fill these holes in the coming days as the trade deadline approaches.

Third Base Options:

Isiah Kiner-Falefa:

Reunion anyone? Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been great this season for the Toronto Blue Jays, as he has posted a career high 115 OPS+ so far this season as he has been hitting the ball in the air far more frequently than he had previously in his career. IKF has done this while also playing his usual elite defense at third and second base. The Blue Jays feel like clear sellers this deadline even though they haven’t made any big trades yet, and IKF is on a one-year deal, so one would think he is available on the trade market. IKF handled the New York media very well during his recent tenure with the team despite receiving a lot of criticism from the fans, but given how poorly D.J. LeMahieu has played this season and IKF’s new batted ball profile, the Blue Jays infielder should be welcomed back with open arms if the two teams can strike a deal. If the Yankees were to trade for IKF, I think he would fit nicely in the leadoff spot in the lineup, as he has been very aggressive at the plate this year, and that should translate well for that position in the lineup, as Yankee leadoff hitters have been seeing a lot of pitches in the zone as pitchers do not want to walk the person hitting in front of Soto and Judge.

Luis Rengifo:

Much like IKF, Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo is a very aggressive hitter that I think would be a great fit in the leadoff spot for the Yankees. Unlike IKF though, Rengifo is not a very good defender at third base, but Rengifo is signed via arbitration for next season, so if the Yankees traded for him, he would likely be the team’s starting third baseman next year too. Overall, Rengifo and IKF have very similar offensive profiles as high average, low walk rate guys that are aggressive swingers at the plate. Either player would be a huge upgrade at third from D.J. LeMahieu, but I tend to like IKF a little better because of the defense he provides, but Rengifo’s ability to switch hit and his contract status are valuable as well.

Left Field/First Base Platoon Options:

Alex Verdugo has played good defense in left field this season, but his 82 OPS+ is really weighing the team down, so I think the Yankees should look into trading for a left fielder that hits left-handed pitching well to form a platoon with Verdugo.

Taylor Ward:

Angels left fielder Taylor Ward would be a great fit in my opinion, as he has mauled left-handed pitching to the tune of a .903 OPS this season and an .803 OPS over his career. Ward also plays solid defense in the outfield and is signed via arbitration for two seasons after 2024, so I think he would be a great fit for the Yankees, and he seems to be on the trading block as the Angels are positioned to be sellers at the deadline. Even though Jasson Dominguez is close to a return from his oblique injury, I don’t think it would be wise to rely so heavily on a player that has seen such little playing time in the majors to fix the team’s offensive issues. Even if the Yankees traded for Ward, they could always DFA or waive Verdugo after the deadline if his struggles continue to make room on the roster for Dominguez if they really want to call him up. Ward had an awesome year in 2022, but in the two seasons since then, he has been a league average hitter. Luckily for the Yankees, a league average bat would be a big upgrade from the production they have gotten out of Verdugo this season. Lastly, since the Mariners made the trade to acquire Randy Arozarena (who is also signed via arbitration for two more seasons) from the Rays for their #12 and #22 prospects, the market seems to have been established for bat-first left fielders with two years of arbitration left on their deals, which could make things easier for the Yankees when negotiation with the Angels.

Mark Canha:

Similarly to Taylor Ward, Mark Canha has been destroying left-handed pitching this season, as he has posted an .880 OPS against south paws this season. Canha is a worse defender than Ward and is only under contract for this season, so it would likely take less in terms of prospect capital to acquire Canha, but I would prefer to see the Yankees go after Taylor Ward since he is a better defender and under cheap team control for the next couple of seasons. One thing Canha does that Ward has not shown he can do at the major league level yet is play first base, which might be appealing to the Yankees who have leaned on rookie Ben Rice at first base since Anthony Rizzo broke his arm. Trading for either Ward or Canha would provide the Yankees with another solid bat that is very likely to hit well against left-handed pitching, thus making the Yankees a more potent offense.

Relief Options:

I think the Yankees are only going to trade for one relief pitcher because of the impending roster crunch that will occur once players like Scott Effross and Clarke Schmidt return from injury. I also think it is fairly likely that once Schmidt returns, the team will move Luis Gil to the bullpen, and that will act as a bullpen upgrade.

Tanner Scott:

Marlins closer Tanner Scott has been the most popular name floated by Yankees fans when it comes to relievers the team could acquire, and it makes plenty of sense, as he is a very effective, high strikeout rate, high leverage reliever that would form a nasty tandem with current Yankees closer Clay Holmes. Scott, a left-handed pitcher, is very effective against left-handed hitters, as they have a minuscule .362 OPS against him this season. Acquiring Scott would allow the Yankees to utilize him and Holmes at the end of games based on matchups against the hitters due up for opposing teams. Scott is only signed for this season, but given how much teams have been willing to give up for relief pitchers so far this deadline season, it probably won’t be cheap to acquire Scott from Miami.

Kyle Finnegan:

Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan is another player whose name has been floated around trade rumors for a few weeks now as the Nats appear to be sellers. Although Finnegan is a right-handed pitcher, he has reverse splits, meaning he has been more effective against lefties (.471 OPS against) than righties (.652 OPS against). Finnegan is also signed via arbitration next season, which would be very valuable for the Yankees since many of their current relievers will be free agents after this season. Finnegan doesn’t strike hitters out as frequently as Tanner Scott does, but he walks hitters at a much lower rate than Scott, so I think he would be a great fit in the Yankees bullpen.

Carlos Estevez:

The last Angels player that I’m going to mention in this blog is their closer, Carlos Estevez, who has been awesome this season, posting a 2.38 ERA in 34.0 innings pitched. Much like Finnegan, Estevez is a right-handed pitcher that has faired slightly better against lefties (.476 OPS) than righties (.502 OPS), so he appears to be a pitcher that would be a good compliment to Clay Holmes late in games. Estevez has a high strikeout rate of 25.8% and an extremely low walk rate of just 4.0%, so of the three relievers I have mentioned, he has the best K/BB ratio. Like Tanner Scott, Estevez is only signed for this season, so he wouldn’t help solve the Yankees bullpen problem next year, but he would make a great addition to their current bullpen.

Wild Card:

In more ways than one, Jazz Chisolm Jr., who the Yankees are reportedly interested in, is the ultimate wild card. His locker room presence has been questioned before, but the Yankees were fine acquiring other controversial personalities such as Aroldis Chapman and Josh Donaldson in years past, and they currently have Jon Berti in the organization who has played with Jazz, so he should be able to give them an idea of how Jazz would fit on the team. Trading for Jazz would likely put an end to Gleyber Torres’s Yankee tenure, as I imagine the Yankees would mostly play Jazz at second base, but considering Gleyber’s poor play this year and the fact that he is a free agent after this season, his days as a Yankees appear to be numbered anyway. Additionally, Jazz is signed via arbitration for two season after this one, so the Yankees could have him on the roster for relatively cheap for the next couple of years. Therefore, this would remove one item from the Yankees to-do list this offseason when they search for a second baseman. Jazz is a much better defender and baserunner than Gleyber is, and he has also been a better hitter than Gleyber this season, as Jazz currently has an OPS+ of 100 and Gleyber has an OPS+ of 88. Gleyber has been hitting better recently, but the Yankees could decide to be proactive and trade for Jazz to solve their future hole at second base while also upgrading in the short term. Jazz has an aggressive approach at the plate, so he would probably be a good fit in the leadoff spot for the Yankees. Trading for Jazz would be a very aggressive move by the Yankees, but I think it would benefit them in both the short-term and long-term. Lastly, since Jazz can play center field as well, acquiring him would help with the Yankees roster crunch as they could trade Trent Grisham to a contender in need of another outfielder.