MLB trade deadline 2022: Should Yankees go all-in for Juan Soto?

By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports activities MLB Author

Now not on a record-shattering tempo, the Yankees at the moment are merely the perfect staff in baseball.

Nonetheless, the hole between them and Houston (two video games heading into Tuesday evening) is smaller than it has been in months, with the Yanks simply 5-5 of their previous 10 video games.

There isn’t any cause for panic; all nice albums have a foul tune or two. Barring a whole and whole collapse, the Yankees ought to sleepwalk their solution to an AL East crown as both the No. 1 or No. 2 seed within the newly structured MLB postseason. 

However that does not imply GM Brian Cashman & Co. aren’t searching for reinforcements to soup up the roster on the upcoming commerce deadline.

Final deadline, the Yankees swung a giant take care of Texas for Joey Gallo (let’s be form and say “combined outcomes”), however their greatest acquisition ended up being a no-name reliever they received from the Pirates. Nicely, now Clay Holmes is the perfect reliever on the planet. Whereas it is silly to suppose Cashman can unearth yet one more elite reliever from the deadline cut price bin, Holmes is a superb reminder that useful gamers can come from wherever.

So with the Aug. 2 cutoff quickly approaching, let’s check out the place the Yankees stand and the place they may stand to enhance.

Juan Soto has choices: Yankees, Mets & Padres within the combine

Ben Verlander seems to be at all the things it is advisable to find out about Juan Soto’s attainable commerce locations.

The offense (precedence degree: average)

The present scenario: At full energy, the Yanks have been working all season with 10 gamers for 9 spots. That is a pleasant luxurious, particularly contemplating how a lot Gallo has struggled. The infield appears fairly set with Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Josh Donaldson and DJ LeMahieu, however with Giancarlo Stanton headed to the injured record with Achilles tendonitis, there’s room for one more outfield bat to present the roster an harm buffer.

The depth: Tim Locastro and Marwin Gonzalez are the opposite outfielders on the present roster. Locastro is extra of a defensive alternative, pinch-runner kind, and he simply received recalled when Stanton went to the IL.

In Triple-A, there’s the indestructible Miguel Andújar, who had his commerce request declined (or ignored, relying on the way you need to label issues), the unreliable Estevan Florial, whom the Yankees do not appear to belief, and the everlasting Tyler Wade, who in some way ended up again on the roster this 12 months after spending the primary three months with the Angels.

The choices: There’s the Juan Soto dialog, after which there’s all the things else. Making a play for Soto is much less about filling roster holes or solidifying depth and extra about buying the perfect younger hitter on the planet.

Past that, Kansas Metropolis All-Star Andrew Benintendi would add one other stable lefty stick. Michael A. Taylor is one other Royals outfielder having a pleasant season. Longtime Arizona outfielder David Peralta can also be a lefty bat as a result of hit free company after the 12 months. 

Juan Soto’s top-five commerce vacation spot spots

FOX Sports activities’ Ben Verlander tells us who he believes are the 5 groups probably to commerce for Juan Soto.

The rotation (precedence degree: low)

The present scenario: By way of video games Monday, the Yankees’ starters boasted the third-lowest rotation ERA in baseball, at 3.26. The 5 important hurlers — Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Nestor Cortes, Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino — have been impressively wholesome all season; New York is the one staff in MLB that has 5 pitchers with greater than 16 begins.

Whereas Severino’s latest IL stint with a minor lat pressure would not appear to be a long-lasting problem, it would not damage the Yankees so as to add a dependable, boring, back-end, veteran starter who might additionally function in lengthy reduction in case extra accidents begin to pile up.

The depth: Domingo Germán returned from the IL final week with an “avert-your-eyes” degree horrendous begin. He isn’t a dependable choice after years missed as a result of harm and a home violence suspension.

JP Sears stays the staff’s greatest fill-in choice, one thing the 26-year-old has carried out properly twice already this 12 months. Past that, it is skinny, with prime prospect and up to date Futures Gamer Ken Waldichuk possible the subsequent man up.

The choices: It is robust to think about the Yankees working on the prime of the deadline’s beginning pitcher market — that is simply not a precedence. So let’s cross Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle and Frankie Montas off the record. That leaves the second tier of pending free-agent, veteran inning-eaters.

I do know each Yanks fan from Trenton to Montauk shutters on the names “J.A. Happ” and “Andrew Heany,” however these are precisely the kinds of constant, uninspiring bulk arms the Yanks might use. Luckily or sadly, Happ retired in Might, so he is not out there until he pulls a Brett Favre.

The opposite, un-retired names on this group? 

Although he has tailed off a bit not too long ago, Pittsburgh lefty José Quintana is having a pleasant bounce-back season (3.70 ERA in 19 begins), and we all know the Pirates and Yanks commerce on a regular basis. New York already has a ton of lefties, although (Cortes, Montgomery, Sears, Lucas Luetge, Wandy Peralta and Aroldis Chapman)

The Angels have collapsed but once more, which implies pending free agent and cross-fit-gym-owner lookalike Noah Syndergaard is obtainable. Although he is nonetheless a well-known title, Thor is a league-average pitcher at this level — and one who has made just one reduction look in his complete profession.

Baltimore has surged into the fringes of postseason rivalry however nonetheless is perhaps prepared to half with final innings-muncher Jordan Lyles. The O’s have traded veteran starters in-division on the deadline earlier than (Andrew Cashner).

MLB Energy Rankings: Astros, Yankees and Dodgers headline Ben’s record

Ben Verlander shares his MLB Energy Rankings for Week 16, with the Astros surpassing the Yankees for the No. 1 spot.

The bullpen (precedence degree: excessive)

The present scenario: Whereas the rotation has stayed remarkably wholesome, the bullpen has suffered. Michael King is out for the 12 months after fracturing his proper elbow, Chad Inexperienced has been out since April recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure, Aroldis Chapman has been banged up and ineffective, and Jonathan Loáisiga missed time as a result of shoulder points and has been a shadow of his spectacular 2021 self. Secondary arms akin to Clarke Schmidt, Ron Marinaccio, Lucas Luetge, Wandy Peralta and, not too long ago, Albert Abreu, have stepped up massive, however there’s nonetheless room on this pen for one or two extra reliable, late-inning hurlers.

The choices: The record is lengthy and filled with terrors. Relievers are a unstable group, so a midseason commerce for a bullpen arm might imply jubilation or catastrophe. It is Schrödinger’s Reliever.

The targets:

Daniel Bard: Colorado’s 37-year-old nearer who beat the yips after a movie-like, seven-year journey out of baseball has nice numbers and is a free agent this winter.

David Robertson: Spherical three? Robertson has been a Yankee twice earlier than and regarded completely cooked after an abysmal 2019 season and the missed 2020 season. However the 37-year-old revitalized his profession with the USA Olympic staff in Tokyo and latched on with the Cubs, for whom he has completely dominated this season (1.83 ERA in 39.1 innings).

Joe Mantiply: Probably the most nameless 2022 All-Star made one look for the Yankees in 2019 earlier than he figured his stuff out. He isn’t a free agent till 2027, so the Yanks must pony up an even bigger prospect package deal to Arizona to get it carried out.

Andrew Chafin: The mustachioed lefty has been one in every of baseball’s greatest relievers (2.39 ERA in 37.2), and he performs for the Tigers, who simply introduced they’re all the way down to “commerce just about anybody.” Although the Yanks have already got a cadre of left-handers, Chafin’s profession splits are completely even. 

Michael Fulmer: The 2016 Rookie of the Yr has battled accidents and inconsistency to reestablish himself as a stable, if unspectacular, single-inning reliever. Additionally, unsure should you heard, however the Tigers are buying and selling everybody.

Joe Jiménez: Maybe you have by no means heard of Jiménez, however you are about to as a result of *checks notes* the Tigers are buying and selling everybody.

Jason Foley: A Lengthy Island child with a bowling-ball sinker and tons of management left who would not normally be out there, however — another time — the Tigers are buying and selling everybody.

Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball author for FOX Sports activities. He’s an Orioles fan dwelling in New York Metropolis, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s virtually definitely driving his bike. You may comply with him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.

Get extra from Main League Baseball Observe your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra.