Put it this way, even if the Mets just had as good a do-over day as the Yankees did: The Yankees still had a much better Trade Deadline than a year ago, when if they’d brought in better reinforcements — even in a lesser market than this one — they might have won their first World Series since 2009. Which sometimes feels like 1909 to Yankee fans.
The Yankees have picked up a third baseman in Ryan McMahon, after having gone through more than 100 games without one. They have added other infield depth in Amed Rosario, and more importantly with Jose Caballero, who they might need to play shortstop — and on a regular basis — if Anthony Volpe doesn’t stop turning routine plays into a theme park ride.
They have added righthanded power in Austin Slater, though how much pop that actually means against lefthanded pitchers remains to be seen. I saw headlines when they made the deal for him that described him as being a “lefty masher.” Wait….what? Slater’s been in the big leagues for nine years and has a total of 30 home runs against lefties.
Perhaps the biggest move of all, though, for the Yankees might be getting David Bednar, once a premier power closer with the Pirates. Bednar might only be about the fifth-best relief pitcher dealt in the past 24 hours, but could be the new Yankee closer in about a week if Devin Williams continues to pitch the ninth the way he did against the Rays on Wednesday night, throwing another fat pitch and giving up another lead. And making you believe he still hasn’t exorcised all his demons from when Pete Alonso ended his season and the Brewers’ season last October.
Without question, the Yankee bullpen got better by mid-afternoon, first with Bednar then with Jake Bird, finally Camilo Doval. You can see how desperate Brian Cashman was to write a second draft for this team. Is it all enough? We’re about to find out. Can the Yankees catch the Blue Jays and pull away from the Red Sox and steal another American League East title the way they did last year? Sure. The Blue Jays, as we all just saw, looked like world beaters right up until they didn’t against the Orioles, who would have swept a four-game series if not for a blown ball-strike call when the Orioles had the bases loaded in the 8th inning on Wednesday.
And over in Queens, where the Mets still have the best record in town? David Stearns just took his own big swings, for both pitching and hitting. The Mets bullpen definitely improved once he did, and by a lot, first with Tyler Rogers and then with Ryan Helsley’s big arm, even if you were hoping they’d get one more arm after them. Sometimes you get the idea that Carlos Mendoza’s starters are less likely to go deep into games than Aaron Boone’s are, which is saying plenty.
But perhaps the Mets offense, which wasn’t too shabby to begin with, just improved as significantly as the bullpen did, because of Cedric Mullins, the Orioles centerfielder who might be one of the most dynamic players in town over the rest of the summer and into the fall. Let’s face it: The Mets needed a centerfielder as much as the Yankees did a third baseman.
The Mets sure did have holes to fill at this deadline. The Yankees had more, and not just with their pitching staff. What McMahon and Rosario and Slater have unquestionably done is upgrade the down-roster of the 2025 New York Yankees, mostly because there wasn’t much down-roster until now. Now we see if there has been enough improvement to Cashman’s flawed first draft that the Yankees won’t have another lousy month between now and the end of the regular season like the one they did just have; the kind they seem to have year after year after year.
The Yankees walked away with a sub-standard AL East a year ago, then were gifted with an opening playoff series against the Royals. And when the Guardians ended up outlasting the Tigers in their division series, the Yankees managed to avoid a Tigers team that had been one of the hottest in baseball over the last two months of the regular season, one as hot as the Mets were over the same stretch.
Are the Yankees going to be a tougher out now than they were with Juan Soto? They’re going to get the chance to prove that. But the Tigers are better this years. The Mariners are better. The Astros are better than they were in ‘24, despite all their injuries, and get even better now that they bring back Carlos Correa, and acquire Jesus Sanchez from the Marlins.
Over in the NL East, the Phillies’ Dave Dombrowski never sits out the kind of action like we have gotten over the past few days, not with the Mets right there. So he adds one of the star closers in play, Jhoan Duran from the Twins, and Harrison Bader, once a total October star for the Yankees.
Right now, today, I still think the Mets are a better bet for October than the Yankees, and a better show. Still: Both teams are going to get a full shot to finish in first place, then go from there. Both teams did get good relief pitchers even if other teams — Padres, especially — got better ones. McMahon has a chance to be a solid two-way player for the Yankees the rest of the way. Mullins is an even better player, even going on memory.
In so many ways, this was as busy a Trade Deadline, for both New York teams, as we’ve seen in a long time and maybe ever. Now we find out if the Mets and Yankees did enough to make this year better than last year. Thursday was fun. The big fun starts today.
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