Yankees at 60-42, Trail Orioles by 1.5 Games
The New York Yankees, currently holding a 60-42 record, are just one and a half games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. Despite a recent 10-20 slump, they have a chance to strengthen their roster before the trade deadline. Chris Kirschner from The Athletic suggests that the Yankees might trade Nestor Cortes to acquire a starting infielder or left fielder.
“In 2022, the Yankees traded Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for center fielder Harrison Bader,” Kirschner noted. “The rationale was that Montgomery wouldn’t be part of the playoff rotation, and GM Brian Cashman aimed to bolster a crucial defensive position. Cortes, with one more year of team control, still has value. They could trade him for a new starting infielder or left fielder.”
Cortes’ Season and Perspective
Despite the criticism the Yankees have faced during their slump, Cortes remains optimistic about the team’s potential. On July 16, he expressed his pride in being a Yankee on social media.
“Everyone talks down about the Yanks, but they wanna be us. It’s a privilege to wear pinstripes. Every year we are in contention. I’m blessed to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end,” Cortes posted.
Cortes doesn’t want to be traded, but he might not be essential to the Yankees’ postseason rotation. The Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Marcus Stroman, and Luis Gil to lead the rotation in the playoffs. Cortes has a 3.99 ERA in 21 starts this season but has struggled recently, giving up 11 earned runs in his last two starts.
Yankees’ Trade Deadline Strategy
The Yankees need to improve their offense, which ranks 18th in runs scored in July after being in the top 10 earlier in the season. DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres, both struggling, could be replaced. LeMahieu is hitting .181 in 40 games, while Torres, batting .229 overall, has hit .303 in his last 10 games.
GM Brian Cashman confirmed on July 9 that the team is “open-minded to a lot of different things” before the July 30 trade deadline. “We definitely have areas to improve upon and we’ll do our best to do so,” Cashman said.
In 2022, the Yankees began the season 61-23 but played below .500 for the rest of the year and were swept by the eventual World Series champions, the Houston Astros. Cashman hopes to avoid a repeat of last year’s performance.
“Thankfully, we got out of the gates really strong, so hopefully that cushion will allow us to work through this, hopefully sooner than later, because it’s gone on long enough,” Cashman said.
In 2022, the Yankees added Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas, and Harrison Bader at the deadline, but the moves didn’t produce the desired results. This year, they hope for a better outcome.
