'Twas the night before the trade deadline... and the Yankees just took down the first place Phillies, 14-4. Aaron Judge continues his monstrous MVP season, and newly acquired Jazz Chisholm looked comfortable at third and smashed two home runs in his second game as a Yank.
The Yankees have shown us their funk is behind them, and have scored 34 runs during their three-game win streak. Reinforcements are coming, but this team has an opportunity to take it over the edge, especially with how hot the stove has been.
'Twas the night before the trade deadline, and moves need to be made. The corner infield positions could use help, and does the pitching and depth. The Captain is requesting moves to be made, which means you have to make said moves.
I've constructed a list of what the perfect roster could look like. Essentially, the Yankees would need to strike a deal with Tampa Bay, and land pieces from Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington.
The Perfect (and Realistic) 26-Man Roster Post Trade Deadline
1B: Yandy Diaz (TB)
2B: Jazz Chisholm
SS: Anthony Volpe
3B: Luis Rengifo (LAA)
RF: Aaron Judge
CF: Jasson Dominguez
LF: Juan Soto
DH: Giancarlo Stanton
C: Austin Wells
Bench: Jose Trevino
Bench: Oswaldo Cabrera
Bench: Ben Rice (or Anthony Rizzo if healthy)
Bench: Alex Verdugo (or Trent Grisham)
SP: Gerrit Cole
SP: Carlos Rodon
SP: Jack Flaherty (DET)
SP: Luis Gil
SP: Marcus Stroman
RP: Scott Effross
RP: Michael Tonkin
RP: Caleb Ferguson
RP: Tommy Kahnle
RP: Luke Weaver
RP: Clay Holmes
RP: Kyle Finnegan (WAS)
RP: Pete Fairbanks (TB)
And there you have it. Reinforcements to the corner infields. A new starter. Excellent bullpen help. A combo of Finnegan and Fairbanks would take the edge off of Clay Holmes. I would be happy with one of them, especially with the bullpen help that is coming back from the IL (Loasigia, Poteet, Hamilton, Burdi, Trivino, and Clarke Schmidt as a starter or long relief. Jack Flaherty is having a nice season, and would be incredible to plug in as the third starter. Adding Yandy Diaz would turn this lineup parabolic, and Renifgo would be icing on the cake.
The question is, how does this happen? For starters, the prospect hugging needs to be out the window. Even Spencer Jones should be on the table. If Juan Soto signs back on this team, your outfield is locked up for years to come. The farm is deep enoguh to make these moves, especially seeing the minimal price paid for Jazz.
The second, is ripping the bandaid off. Nestor Cortes is sadly traded. Gleyber isn't part of the picture anymore and is an impeding free agent. DJ LeMahieu isn't the guy he used to be. He has to be DFA'd. Additionally to, you can remove one of Verdugo or Grisham, because Dominguez back creates a logjam. All tough decisions, but all imprative in the chase for 28.
At the end of the day, it's a lot of moves. Cashman has done it before, but this season he needs to hammer it down. No more waiting, no more complancecy, it's time to build this team for October.
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