As the 2025 trade deadline quickly approaches, the Yankees have their work cut out for them. They have three catchers, two first basemen, a full-time DH, and a logjam in the outfield, but third base has been a black hole all season. The rotation is significantly weakened with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt recovering from Tommy John surgery, and they could use another starter for a potential playoff push. Aside from Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, and lefty specialist Tim Hill, the bullpen looks especially
weak. The Yankees will need to add at least four players to feel like there are no glaring weaknesses heading into the most crucial stretch of the season.
It’s a tall task for GM Brian Cashman, and it needs to be addressed urgently. The defending American League champions once had a seven-game lead in the division, but after two months of sloppy, uninspiring baseball they now find themselves four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, a team they’ve struggled to beat all year. In fact, you could say that about the entire division. They’re 11-18 against the AL East thus far, and with several teams competing for Wild Card spots, another rough patch could result in the Yankees fighting an uphill battle just to make the playoffs. As non-contending teams gear up for their annual end-of-July sale, the Yankees are expected to be one of the most active teams at the deadline.
So who would they have to part with in order to acquire a third baseman, a starting pitcher, and two relievers? Teams will surely be asking for the team’s top prospect, George Lombard Jr., and the Yankees will surely be saying no. Spencer Jones could have been a trade candidate a couple months ago, but with 29 home runs in the minors this year including 13 in his first 19 games at Triple-A, Jones could very well be off the table as well, especially for a rental. With potentially neither of those two available for trade, how can the Yankees outbid other teams who are after the same players?
Enter Cam Schlittler’s name into the conversation. Sellers will be all over the 24-year-old flamethrower, who flew up the depth chart this spring by dominating the minor leagues before making his MLB debut just before the All-Star Break. Since adding a few ticks of velocity to his fastball last year, Schlittler has passed every test he’s been given and looks every bit like a rotational piece for years to come. He’ll be sought after by every team looking to regroup and retool for next year, but should the Yankees be willing to part with the upside of a pitcher like this?
The case for trading Cam Schlittler
As exciting as it’s been to watch the young righty strike out batters in the pros with 100-mph fastballs in his first two starts with the team, Schlittler is not a finished product. He has a deep arsenal, with plus offspeed pitches in the form of a slider, curveball, and sweeper to offset the electric fastball, but he’s had some difficulty spotting those pitches as we saw in Toronto this week. He was unable to bury the offspeed pitches below the plate, and the slider especially was all over the place. Most importantly, he still needs to develop another pitch to get left-handed batters out with consistency. Schlittler’s is a profile with lots of upside, but it’s reasonable for the Yankees to be concerned about relying on him in a playoff environment this early in his career.
Situationally speaking, the team has too many holes and enough pitching depth in the minor leagues to worry so much about trading one prospect away. The best chance to ensure the big-league roster is ready for playoff contention could very well be through a multi-player trade with the Diamondbacks, who could theoretically fix every problem the Yankees have with one deal. Cashman could walk away with one or both of Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly (two veteran starters with proven experience succeeding in the playoffs less than two years ago), and a reliever like Shelby Miller or Jalen Beeks to provide depth in a shallow bullpen, and he could have tried to pry away All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez, though that’s now off the table with the team’s acquisition of Ryan McMahon.
They could not acquire a multi-piece package without parting with serious upside, however, and if Jones and Lombard are untouchable then Schlittler might be the top remaining player who could headline the return in a major trade. It would hurt to part with such a promising pitcher, but if the team goes on a deep playoff run thanks in part to a raft of talent imported by trading away a prospect, that’s a trade you make every time.
Additionally, tons of pitching prospects either break down or never live up to their potential. The list of former top young arms who had disappointing results in the big leagues, suffered a devastating injury they never fully recovered from, or never even made their MLB debut is longer than a CVS receipt. The Yankees themselves have had a number of these names in their system within the past decade — Deivi García, Chance Adams, and Justus Sheffield, just to name a few. They could reasonably make the argument that moving a young pitcher with Schlittler’s upside for a badly-needed veteran bat is nothing personal, just part of a philosophical process against going big on risky bets.
The case against trading Cam Schlittler
It’s true that Schlittler had some struggles with his control in Toronto and allowed a few too many baserunners, but he battled every step of the way and showed enough resilience to depart after five innings in line for a win with just two runs allowed. Going into an important divisional game on the road against a first-place team is a tall task for a rookie in Schlittler’s position—to say nothing of his recent skipped start in Atlanta due to biceps soreness—and all things considered, it was quite the impressive performance that resulted in the only road victory the Yankees took from Toronto in their last seven opportunities. Schlittler bent, but he never broke.
A fastball that can reach triple digits with 16+ inches of vertical break and three plus off-speed pitches is an incredibly exciting profile for a starting pitcher, especially when that pitcher is 6-foot-6. After losing their ace for the season in spring training and suffering serious losses to their rotation, is it possible that the starting pitcher they need has been in their organization this whole time? Max Fried and Carlos Rodón will start the first two games of any playoff series should the team make it that far, Luis Gil is on the verge of returning to make his season debut, and even with the up-and-down Will Warren leading all MLB rookies in strikeouts, Schlittler could be the best option to complete a four-man playoff rotation. This doesn’t mean the Yankees shouldn’t still try to trade for a starter at the deadline, but the idea of those four making starts in October shouldn’t scare them so much that they part ways with Schlittler to secure another veteran presence in the rotation.
Besides, how sure are we that the starters available for trade would give the team a better chance to win big games than Schlittler would? Gallen has a 5.58 ERA and hasn’t been the same pitcher since Arizona relied on him heavily during their 2023 postseason run. Mitch Keller has developed into a solid mid-rotation starter, but he’s been inconsistent his entire career and Schlittler’s stuff already grades well ahead of his in every model. Sandy Alcantara shouldn’t require a player of Schlittler’s value after the season he’s been having, and the Yankees have a history of being able to make win-now trades with the Marlins without parting with their best prospects. Merrill Kelly is having a strong year and would be a viable target, but at 36-years-old the Yankees shouldn’t have to part with an MLB-ready 24-year-old fireballer to acquire two months of his services. I suppose it’s possible that they could work something out with the Royals for the solid Seth Lugo, but the Diamondbacks loom as the most likely trade partner. Only if the team indeed decides that Arizona is a one-stop shop to solve all their problems should they consider moving Schlittler in a huge trade, and there’s reason to believe that’s not the best option.
The Yankees have a number of depth prospects they could move for big league help like they’ve done in years past, including Everson Pereira, Roc Riggio, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, Bryce Cunningham, Rafael Flores, Ben Hess, and Roderick Arias. Carlos Lagrange could be a candidate as well, though the upside there might be reaching a point where the Yankees prefer to keep him out of package deals unless they’re obtaining a bigger piece. Some combination of these players along with lower-level minor-league talent may be enough to acquire players like Kelly or Gallen, and bullpen help, without sacrificing future parts of the team’s foundation.
There are certain players like Oneil Cruz, Mackenzie Gore, and Joe Ryan who, if they're available, would be worth breaking the bank to acquire, but the Yankees should be able to realize they have something special in Cam Schlittler and how valuable that is. While they may not choose to throw him into the fire by making him a key member of the playoff rotation, the next two months of MLB starts will be crucial for Schlittler to further his development into a long-term member of the rotation.
How the Yankees choose to handle the trade deadline will be a monumental factor in their outlook for the rest of the year, but they would be wise not to trade a pitcher who will succeed in the big leagues for a long time. Schlittler has already displayed readiness to pitch well at this level in just two starts, and trading that away for a veteran pitcher in hopes they can do the same would be missing the forest for the trees. At least in this writer’s view, Cam Schlittler is a big part of the Yankees’ present and future, and he should be treated as such.
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