The Yankees Have Many Holes To Fill Before The Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees will take on the Blue Jays in Toronto today, kicking off a three-game series that could have a monumental impact on the American League East standings. The 55-44 Yankees trail the Blue Jays by three games in the division.

Staring up at the Blue Jays is an unfamiliar position for New York, who have finished in either first or second place 27 times in the last 31 years. The team squandered an early-season lead in the standings by going 20-24 since May 30.

The Yankees were an imperfect team to start the season who neglected to address all their flaws in the offseason. Now they have a week and a half remaining before the trade deadline to bolster their roster for the stretch run. Here are some of the areas where they need reinforcements.

Yankees Pitching

The Yankees have two All-Star starting pitchers in Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, but beyond them, injuries have pushed their rotation depth to its limits. Will Warren leads all MLB rookies with 117 strikeouts, but his 4.91 ERA and 1.44 WHIP show he has been a below-average starter. The other two rotation spots currently include Marcus Stroman, who has a 5.64 ERA through seven starts, and Cam Schlittler, who has made just one MLB appearance.

Gerrit Cole was lost to Tommy John surgery in spring training, and Clarke Schmidt suffered the same fate a few weeks ago. Ryan Yarbrough was filling in capably, posting a 3.33 ERA over eight starts and eight relief appearances, but he has been out with a strained oblique since June.

Luis Gil, who won the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year Award, hasn’t pitched for the Yankees this year due to a lat strain. However, he has made two rehab starts in Double-A, and should return to New York soon. Even when he returns, the team still needs to add a starting pitcher.

Their bullpen has been uncharacteristically shaky too. Devin Williams has settled down after a rough beginning of the year, and Luke Weaver remains superb despite some hiccups before the All-Star Break. Ian Hamilton and Tim Hill have pitched well too, but after that, their relief corps has been riddled with injuries and poor performances. They will need another arm or two that they can rely on in high-leverage spots.

Yankees Hitters

Most of the Yankees lineup has established itself with one glaring exception. The team has failed to fill their third base hole all year long. They tried moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. there and letting DJ LeMahieu play second base, but LeMahieu has since been released and Chisholm moved back up the middle to his stronger position.

Since LeMahieu was cast aside, Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas have alternated through the lineup at third. Neither one of them has hit nearly enough. Peraza is batting .147/.210/.240 and Vivas is hitting .173/.283/.269. Peraza tends to play more than Vivas due to his excellent defense, but it’s clear that this is a position they need to upgrade.

The problem with the club needing a third baseman and multiple pitchers is that they don’t have a lot of prosects to part with. MLB.com ranked their farm system 24th out of 30 franchises prior to the season, and their only top-100 prospect was Jasson Dominguez, who is now their everyday left fielder. George Lombard Jr. has flourished and is now a consensus top-50 prospect, but he’s probably too valuable for the team to consider trading.

Ideally, the Yankees would have a group of good-not-great prospects for trade fodder. That isn’t the case, yet they still need to make several additions. They probably won’t be able to fill all their needs before the deadline at the end of July, so we’ll see what their highest priorities will be.