Brian Cashman knows the Yankees have needs.
The decisions this week to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base and to designate DJ LeMahieu for assignment further exacerbated the Yankees’ hole at third base.
The likelihood that starter Clarke Schmidt needs Tommy John surgery dealt another blow to a beleaguered pitching staff, as did reliever Mark Leiter Jr. landing on the injured list for a stress fracture in his left leg.
What is less certain is how fruitful the trade market will become between now and the July 31 deadline.
“Certainly, you would love to import a starter, some relievers, because our bullpen obviously has been taxed and [had] some injuries. And yeah, an infielder as well, if possible,” Cashman said Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
“But that’s a long list, and I’m not sure if this will be a deep deadline or not. So, I don’t know how active we can be, but we will try to be active. I can tell you that.”
The Yankees entered Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners with a 50-41 record, good for second place in the American League East. After leading the division for nearly three months, the Yankees fell behind the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays during a recent 6-16 skid.
Cashman pointed to pitching as his biggest area of concern, considering the Yankees are without three starters from last year’s World Series rotation.
Before Schmidt’s injury, the Yankees lost ace Gerrit Cole to season-ending elbow surgery, while Luis Gil has been out since spring training due to a high-grade lat strain. Gil is set to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday.
The rotation presently features Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and rookies Will Warren and Cam Schlittler.
But the Yankees do not have a clear solution at third base, with manager Aaron Boone on Wednesday naming Oswald Peraza, the newly recalled Jorbit Vivas and infielder-turned-catcher J.C. Escarra among the internal options following this week’s roster shuffling.
Complicating the market for buyers was MLB’s 2022 decision to expand the playoff field to six teams in each league, allowing fringe contenders to remain in the mix for longer and thus making them less bullish to sell.
“It’s still early,” Cashman said. “Teams are sharing information. I’ve had a lot of engagement about our needs, their needs and expressing interest here and there, and stuff like that. I can’t definitely say it’s going to be a weak trade market. … We’re going to go to town. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to improve ourselves.”
The Yankees rank third in baseball with a $309 million projected payroll (including the competitive balance tax), according to Cot’s Contracts, which would put them above the highest tax threshold.
Asked about the Yankees’ financial flexibility to add, Cashman said he would bring all options to ownership.
“I’ve had deadlines where I’ve acquired talent that had to be paid down to make it fit, that we’re making money,” Cashman said.
“I’ve had deadlines where we took on big contracts and stuff like that. Ultimately, the great thing about the Steinbrenner family is they’re willing to listen — they want to listen — to everything the market is willing to bear. Hal [Steinbrenner] has always told me, ‘Do not assume anything. Make sure you take everything to me.’”
The Yankees are often busy at the deadline, including last year when they acquired Chisholm from the Miami Marlins and Leiter from the Chicago Cubs.
Additions this year would bolster a roster headlined by an AL MVP favorite in Aaron Judge and a Cy Young candidate in Fried.
“We’re always open and interested in taking big swings,” Cashman said. “We’ve always said every year this is that short window to try to drive this train all the way to the end. But I know that we have a good group of players here that are capable of winning on a consistent basis, and we have an opportunity to add to it.”
Originally Published:
