Trades in Major League Baseball are stagnant for most of the year, and then at the Jul. 31 trade deadline, they happen in a flurry.
It makes sense, because at the deadline, selling teams know they either have to move on from their expiring veterans or risk losing them for nothing in the winter. That deters buyers from making moves ahead of time, because they anticipate their leverage will only increase as the weeks pass by.
However, exceptions can occur, and the New York Yankees might be living one of those exceptions right now.
Lately, the Yankees’ bullpen has been in a rut. Closer Luke Weaver went down at the beginning of the month and probably won’t return until around Jul. 1. Meanwhile, most of the Yankees’ middle relievers these days are both struggling and overworked.
On Tuesday, beat reporter Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media urged the Yankees to make a trade for a reliever. But crucially, Goodman doesn’t believe the Yankees can afford to wait until the rest of the market shifts into gear.
“This season, expect the Yankees to prioritize relievers leading up to the July 31 deadline once again. An infielder, bench bat and starting pitcher could also be on their wish list,” Goodman wrote.
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“With closer Luke Weaver on the injured list for the next few weeks, however, it’s clear that the Yankees would benefit from adding upgrades to their bullpen sooner than later. That logic applies with a short-term lens and an outlook focused solely on October.”
The Yankees’ bullpen currently ranks 16th in ERA at 3.83, and the group has 1.7 fWAR, ranking 13th. Those aren’t typical Yankees bullpen numbers under stellar pitching coach Matt Blake.
New York might find it difficult to get some teams to commit to selling, but surely some teams are buried far enough in the standings to part ways with some of their relievers, though they’ll all want to start bidding wars eventually.
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