Good morning everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Since we had a rather busy deadline day, we pushed this back a bit to dig into the results of Brian Cashman’s shopping spree. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks: What do you think of the new look Yankees after all the deadline deals? Did Cashman do a great job, a horrible job, or just
an adequate job? What’s the biggest hole remaining on this roster after the dust settles?
There was a big pile of questions to pull from here, but I think these three get at the overall trade deadline experience succinctly. Brian Cashman did a damn good job of addressing the needs of his roster for what was out there, getting an upgrade at third base in Ryan McMahon ahead of time and then zeroing in on bullpen help the day of the deadline. David Bednar was perhaps the best bullpen addition to be made for the cost that he required, netting the Pirates the Yankees’ No. 8 prospect in catcher Rafael Flores alongside Edgleen Perez and Brian Sanchez.
While other closers like Mason Miller and Jhoan Duran were netting top 100 prospects in return, Cashman pulled out the old classic and got the quantity package to work to his advantage, and then continued filling out the ‘pen by nabbing Camilo Doval and Jake Bird from the Giants and Rockies respectively. Bird is a bit more emblematic of the Matt Blake “we can fix your relievers” mentality, but Doval was a surprise steal as another former All-Star arm with multiple years of control left. That’s much more than I expected them to be able to manage in a single day, and significantly shifted the needle on their bullpen rankings.
On top of that, he got a weapon that the Yankees have rarely been able to utilize over the years — a speedster in José Caballero. His 34 steals with the Rays tied him for the MLB lead entering play on Friday, and adds another element to the Yankees’ suddenly deep bench. Combine him with some of the younger guys like Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez getting more aggressive on the basepaths, and the offense can be a lot more three-dimensional in this stretch run.
The one area they didn’t get to address at all over the deadline was the starting pitching, which is understandable given the circumstances but still something to keep an eye on going forward. They’re placing their trust in Luis Gil returning and reclaiming his AL Rookie of the Year form immediately, or at the very least having the rest of the rotation buy him time to ramp up for the postseason where he’d slot in as their No. 3 arm currently. Cam Schlittler and Will Warren will get to compete to round out the quartet as Marcus Stroman was shown the exit doors on Friday, leaving a lot of volatility in the bottom of the rotation but also some solid upside. It’s more open-ended than I would’ve liked them to leave the rotation entering August, but across the league there just wasn’t much starting pitching moved indicating a lack of availability more than a lack of effort on the Yankees’ parts.
David S. asks: What impact do you think the acquisitions of McMahon and Rosario will have on Anthony Volpe? Will McMahon’s defense help Volpe’s defense? Possibly more importantly, might Volpe get some occasional days off with Rosario filling in (despite the same handedness)? Will that help Volpe?
In terms of the day-to-day, I don’t think their acquisitions impacts Volpe’s play much. McMahon could be relied on to cover more ground on the left side of the infield, but Volpe’s mistakes on the field are often botched plays and underthrows, things that are really only controllable by himself. I do think Rosario could be used to get Volpe some rest, though it’ll be for the typical days off that Aaron Boone gives out, perhaps at a slightly higher rate now that they have a more capable bench to deploy. Ultimately, it’s on Volpe to get on top of the strange season he’s had, and the bat has certainly risen to the challenge lately — he’s hit three home runs in his last four games including a 4-for-5 night with three runs scored and two RBI in the series opener against Miami.
99Highlander asks: Thoughts on roster composition especially after Judge’s return? Seems that we have more than the typical 13 position players (& DHs).
It’s an interesting field of position players, and honestly one that has only gotten more complicated after the trade deadline than it already was. The Yankees have added Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, Austin Slater, and José Caballero to the mix, and of that bunch only McMahon is taking over a starting spot at third base. The rest are bench pieces and depth, and when Judge returns there would be five outfielders on the roster (on top of there being an indeterminate amount of time where Judge would be DHing only).
Stanton is already a DH only bat, despite reports that Aaron Boone has been giving him some time in the outfield in practice, so either way there’s a logjam approaching. Of the new guys only Caballero has minor league options, and I imagine New York acquired him to put his 34 steals and counting to good use on the basepaths so I doubt he’s getting sent down. If we’re adhering to a traditional 13-13 split between pitchers and position players then we have a puzzle that doesn’t fit, but there’s a world where they tip the scales — the rules prevent rostering more than 13 pitchers, but you’re allowed to stack the bench if you so choose.
Until Judge is ready to take on his regular duties in the outfield, I think this might be the solution, and then the Yankees will have a choice to make over whether Austin Slater is a temporary solution or a part of the bench going forward. They have a roster move upcoming with Luis Gil set to return, and there are two candidates to get sent down — JT Brubaker and Brent Headrick. Instead, they might both be the victims of roster crunch to get both Gil and Judge active.
More from pinstripealley.com:
- Yankees acquire Doval, Caballero at Trade Deadline buzzer
- Yankees get both quantity and quality in upgrading bullpen
- Yankees Trade Deadline Coverage
- Aaron Judge heading to the IL with a flexor strain
- Yankees 2025 draft tracker: 18 of 19 draftees sign
- Pinstripe Alley’s Top 100 Yankees
- 2000 Yankees Diary: The 25th Anniversary of MLB’s Last Three-peat
