Yankees fans, rejoice. Aaron Judge is finally back in New York and the Yankees will look to the trade market to upgrade their team around the MVP.
It's finally here. For the last 53 days, Aaron Judge has been sidelined after he ran through a wall for his team and hurt his foot. But the former MVP is back, and this Yankees team needs him. New York looks like a completely different team without the slugger and their offense will need to hit a complete 180 in order to push them into the playoffs.
Judge can't be the only trade deadline addition they make to the team. They have multiple other needs too, that they will explore the market for in the coming weeks. With Aaron Judge returning, let's look at five deals for New York to make in the coming days.
Yankees rumors: New York needs to pull the trigger and acquire Cody Bellinger before it's too late
Over the last few weeks, Cody Bellinger has emerged as one of the best rental bats on the entire trade market. Not only is he one of the top bats, but he has two years of control, including a team option in 2024. So far in 2023, he's posted his highest batting average of his career with a slash line of .317/.364/.546 and 15 home runs. To go with that, Bellinger plays a tremendous outfield.
This would fill the Yankees biggest hole, even with Judge's return. New York has played musical chairs over the past few months in their outfield, shifting from player to player in hopes that somebody would play well enough to tick, but nobody has. Not only would adding Bellinger upgrade their outfield, but their lineup in general would get so much better.
The Cubs will likely return a good haul for the outfielder, but the Yankees have never been one to shy away from paying a steeper price for a player. With the outfield market being quite shallow this season, they could end up in quite a bidding war with other contenders for the Cubs outfield. With that being said, it would be in New York's best interest to act as soon as they can in pursuit of the former MVP.
Yankees rumors: Dylan Carlson would be a good fit for New York
Before the year, the Cardinals had playoff hopes and were eyeing a big buying season at the trade deadline. Flash forward to current day and the Cardinals are in the middle of completely blowing their roster up because of how poor of a season they are having. Most of their expendable pieces are expiring players or aging veterans, but the New York Yankees could make an offer for a young, controllable outfielder in the Cardinals starting lineup.
Now, let's make this clear. The Yankees would likely try to pursue it, but the Cardinals very easily could shut it down. It wouldn't make much sense for the Cardinals to move Dylan Carlson, but if the Yankees offer the right value in return for him, St Louis could have no other option than to agree.
This kind of deal would only be discussed after the Yankees miss out on Cody Bellinger. If New York is able to land Bellinger, this trade wouldn't make much sense, but it gives them a good idea to fall back on if things go bad. With Carlson being so young and controllable, this would set Aaron Boone's team up for success this season and for the next three seasons. St Louis may not bite, but New York would be foolish to not attempt.
Yankees rumors: Infielder Jeimer Candelario would fit a huge hole in the Yankees lineup
The Yankees have one of the shallowest infields in the entire MLB, where they have seen Josh Donaldson get significant playing time through the season. Now with Donaldson on the IL and Oswald Cabrera getting the demotion to Triple-A again, the Yankees deploy just a handful of infielders on their roster. Not only that, but these infielders are all hitting under .250 except for Gleyber Torres, who's hitting just over .260.
Enter the trade market and some teams selling infielders. Jeimer Candelario matches up perfectly for the Yankees and he could provide them with much needed infield depth and production. For the year, Candelario is slashing .253/.333/.479 with an OPS+ of 125. His OPS+ would rank second among all Yankees, trailing just Aaron Judge. Yes, that's above former superstars Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. His 16 home runs would tie for second on the team, again only trailing Judge, while his 29 doubles would lead the team by a landslide.
This kind of trade is exactly what could flip the switch for a team to make a huge playoff push. The AL Wild Card is wide open, and New York is only a few games back. This is the move that could catapult them into the Wild Card.
Yankees rumors: Jordan Hicks could help bolster the Yankees bullpen down the stretch
Every contending team needs more relief pitching. Down the stretch of the season and into October, pitchers get exhausted and having adequate depth is crucial. It also helps to have somebody in the bullpen that can blow triple digit fastballs by hitters. The Cardinals are selling this pitcher in the form of reliever Jordan Hicks.
Every pitching coach in the MLB is chomping at the bit to get their hands on Jordan Hicks and give their try at reeling him in and helping him reach his full potential. If Hicks is ever able to reach that full potential, he immediately becomes one of the best relievers in the game with the best sinker/slider combo that the game has ever seen.
Now that's a big if, but the Yankees could definitely take their shot at him at the deadline this year. Worst case scenario, they get Hicks for what he is now, a wild flamethrower that very rarely gets hit hard. His addition to any team's bullpen would be a huge upgrade. In 2023, he's got an ERA of 3.67, which is his best ERA since the pandemic and a K/9 over 12, which is a career high. He's a true middle-to-back end of the bullpen reliever.
Yankees rumors: Unlikely, but the Yankees could move a pitcher to Boston to acquire Adam Duvall
Let's preface, this trade is rather unlikely to happen, much like any deal between two contending rivals. The Yankees and the Red Sox don't have much of a pleasant trade history from Boston's perspective. Does Babe Ruth ring a bell? But back to the present day, there is a world where the Yankees and Red Sox could come to terms on a deal that would benefit both teams.
Boston is in desperate need of pitching and the Yankees have a huge hole in the outfield. Adam Duvall would fill that void perfectly for Aaron Boone's Yankees, but the Red Sox would need to receive quite the compensation package to send Adam Duvall to their rivals. For Boston, this compensation would likely come by way of a pitcher that could help them win right now.
It's not out of the picture for a third team to be involved in this kind of deal, sort of creating a buffer between the two rivals. The St Louis Cardinals would be a great candidate to do this, as they have the pitching to trade to Boston in this theoretical. This idea of a trade could end up shipping Duvall to New York, Jordan Montgomery to Boston and prospects to St Louis. It isn't likely, or even rumored just yet, but it would be interesting.
