With the trading deadline two weeks away and with the AL East race looking like it will take 105 wins at least, I thought I'd go through the Yankee roster and pick the possible spots for upgrade.
Locked in (16): Sanchez, Bird, Torres, Didi, Gardner, Stanton, Hicks, Judge.
Severino, Tanaka, Sabathia, Green, Holder, Robertson, Betances, Chapman.
So that's 8 position players (including DH), 3 SPs and 5 relievers. The other spots:
3B: Andujar has really impressed with the bat as a 23 year old rookie, 41 extra base hits in 83 games and a .815 OPS. He hasn't drawn many walks but I think that could easily come later if he makes it more of a priority. His defense is the big question, though, especially his range, and while he could switch to another position like 1B or corner outfield, that would obviously make his bat less valuable. Drury and Wade are also in the picture here, one or both may be dealt this month.
Bench: Let's assume this is 4 players even though it has more often been 3 for NY this year. Romine, Frazier, Wade, Drury, Walker, Austin, and McKinney are all on the 40 man and all deserving to different degrees.
SP: This is clearly NY's biggest weakness, they have yet to adequately replace Montgomery at the #5 spot and Gray has been a major disappointment so far at #4. Justus Sheffield will likely get a shot at the #5 spot soon if he survives the deadline, and Cashman's main focus will be adding someone from outside, good luck with that but he has tons of trading chips.
Bullpen: NY has 5 or 6 guys here who are fantastic, but what they would love is a better lefty to replace Shreve, and if Cashman ends up frustrated at the market for SPs and Machado, this may be the big move this month.
The one wild move I've thought about but eventually rejected is Salvador Perez to bump Romine. I rejected it because his contract seems a bit too big for this role, signed through 2021 for about $40M combined from 2019-2021.
Locked in (16): Sanchez, Bird, Torres, Didi, Gardner, Stanton, Hicks, Judge.
Severino, Tanaka, Sabathia, Green, Holder, Robertson, Betances, Chapman.
So that's 8 position players (including DH), 3 SPs and 5 relievers. The other spots:
3B: Andujar has really impressed with the bat as a 23 year old rookie, 41 extra base hits in 83 games and a .815 OPS. He hasn't drawn many walks but I think that could easily come later if he makes it more of a priority. His defense is the big question, though, especially his range, and while he could switch to another position like 1B or corner outfield, that would obviously make his bat less valuable. Drury and Wade are also in the picture here, one or both may be dealt this month.
Bench: Let's assume this is 4 players even though it has more often been 3 for NY this year. Romine, Frazier, Wade, Drury, Walker, Austin, and McKinney are all on the 40 man and all deserving to different degrees.
SP: This is clearly NY's biggest weakness, they have yet to adequately replace Montgomery at the #5 spot and Gray has been a major disappointment so far at #4. Justus Sheffield will likely get a shot at the #5 spot soon if he survives the deadline, and Cashman's main focus will be adding someone from outside, good luck with that but he has tons of trading chips.
Bullpen: NY has 5 or 6 guys here who are fantastic, but what they would love is a better lefty to replace Shreve, and if Cashman ends up frustrated at the market for SPs and Machado, this may be the big move this month.
The one wild move I've thought about but eventually rejected is Salvador Perez to bump Romine. I rejected it because his contract seems a bit too big for this role, signed through 2021 for about $40M combined from 2019-2021.
