The Trying and The Hope

There was a busy day yesterday with the MLB trade deadline going full steam at the end of the day here in Europe. Some loud deals were made in days prior such as the Dodgers acquiring one of the best pitchers in the league, Tarik Skubal, but the overall consensus is that the trade deadline was not as fun and crazy as it could have been, as many teams, it seems, were not really certain what they should do.

The Punt

It looks like the Yankees knew that they should punt. Their trade deadline was underwhelming, although in isolation getting rid of Camilo Doval and acquiring additional slugging and power in Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos to help struggling offense does not look all that bad. Camilo Doval has been a pain to watch with his quirky delivery like he is trying to slap somebody. Pitch velocity is not everything and pitching is not only about overpowering hitters. He won't be missed.

Luis Garcia Jr. is the best slugger in the National League, which was a surprise to many. His 135 wRC+ is 2nd best in the Yankees lineup right now. For a team that cannot score runs, it is a decent addition. Here is a good breakdown of the trade by Dan Szymborski. Ramos is a cheap option to provide some depth in the OF while Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge are on the injured list.

And that's a wrap of the trade deadline for this great franchise, although, wait a minute, there are several key players coming off the injured list very soon, "we are optimistic" about that, and there is a "very high likelihood" that will happen, and that would be even better than acquiring someone via trade. Or at least "that's what we are hoping". The old and familiar narrative from Brian Cashman could be heard very loudly yesterday.

Front-office relies on hope, likelihood and optimism in planning the rest of the season, what can go wrong in this scenario?

The Trying

The 2026 Yankees are in the delicate position. When telling everyone and everywhere early in the season that this team has a lot of depth offensively, what the Yankees actually meant to say was - "a lot of holes". If you look at their stats right now, they have two good hitters in Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, the latter being on the IL, the former cooling down a bit after a hot first half. You can throw a stone with your eyes closed at this lineup and you are guaranteed to hit a batter who is either extremely streaky or cannot hit at all. The new acquisitions should help with that but they are neither moving the needle much nor groundbreaking. It is actually shocking how the Yankees are still very much afloat in the division race and have a good chance to get to the postseason, thanks mostly to their starting pitching.

There were comments from Brian Cashman of whom he was trying to get - Tarik Skubal, Adley Rutschman, among others - but he could not get them because the price was too steep, or whatever. That's understandable. I was also trying to run 10 kilometers last week and couldn't survive first thousand meters. We all can fail but at least we tried, that's a noble and courageous thing to do.

Offense from their catchers was the most glaring problem of the Yankees from the beginning of the season. They failed to address that during the trade deadline. There were a lot of talk about how acquiring catchers mid-season isn't ideal, how the Yankees value defensive skills, how it takes a lot of time and effort to bring a new acquisition up to speed with the pitching staff. All objectively fair and reasonable things to say until you remember that your number one catcher Austin Wells has 54 wRC+ and 0.1 WAR on the season. But hey, they tried to get Rutschman, it did not work out. What can you do...

Leaving bullpen without upgrade was also a little surprising after losing Bird and Doval. There is some talk about fresh arms, but it is unclear where those arms will come from. Bullpen might be the easiest unit on the team to upgrade or improve. You don't need to acquire elite arms all the time, you may only need one or two decent pitchers to get you through the season. Nothing transpired on the front too...

Trying to get Skubal is the funniest part. You have arguably one the best starting rotations in the league this season, a rotation that practically carries you on its shoulders. You cannot have enough pitching, that is true, but maybe, and this is just a suggestion, focus on real problems the team has which Skubal, with all due respect, could not have solved even if acquired.

The Downfall

On June 2 Aaron Judge went on the IL with a rib fracture. Since then the Yankees are 30th in wRC+, 25th in SLG, 30th in OBP. The Judge effect is real and it is spectacular in a positive and a negative way depending if he is on the field or not. It is easy to forget (or hard to remember if you are glass half empty kind of person) that Giancarlo Stanton is still on this team but not as easy how much money the Yankees are paying him. Bellinger is out till early September. Meanwhile the Red Sox are picking up pace over the last few weeks and you can feel their breath on your neck. One can hope that with two new guys in Garcia and Ramos, the offense gets nudged a little in a positive direction. But it is incredibly hard to stay optimistic and hopeful as the Yankees front office ostensibly can, and not fall into the dark and dank pit of negativity.

Thanks to great pitching the Yankees' downfall is quite gradual but will it stay that way all the way to the end, no one can tell. It takes a couple of bad weeks from the starting pitchers, which is always possible, and that slope will tilt down like a room for a drunk. Considering the popular narrative that the postseason is just a crapshoot, a game of luck, you can never guarantee what is going to happen in October, despite what Bob Nightengale is trying to sell you. Having good pitching can do a lot for you in the postseason and offense can always get hot for a month. All of it can be true and you can stay hopeful but... it is increasingly likely that the season of one of the best starting rotations the Yankees had in years will be wasted because of the anemic offense and some tough injury luck.

The Hope

Yesterday, in the heat of a moment, on Bluesky, I had this to say about the Yankees’ trade deadline:

Despite what Brian Cashman is hoping for or considers likely, I still think this may be close to the truth. The Yankees were not going to be sellers, they never are. But they needed to consider a bigger picture. With Judge being out and his recovery timeline unclear, and with a work stoppage looming in 2027, avoiding big moves and staying cautious was their approach to the deadline.

This made a lot of fans angry which is understandable. To sweeten it a little, the Yankees have demoted Anthony Volpe, beloved by all, and Jasson Dominguez to the minors yesterday, calling up their best prospect, George Lombard Jr. Good acquisitions, as Brian Cashman always tells us, don't always come via trades, so here is a drink to that. Let's hope that the young man has a good major league debut, gives fans some hope for the next two months, and does not become another example of the Yankees clinging to their prospects for too long.

The hope is contagious, and that is all what we are left with here after the uneventful trade deadline by the Yankees. But as we all know, it's the hope that kills you...