NEW YORK – The Yankees are approaching the trade deadline with the reluctance of an ordinary person selling a prized collection on eBay. They know they have to sell, but they keep finding ways to convince themselves they can hold on a little while longer.
Unlike a collectible bobblehead, however, the Yankees can’t sit on their hands forever. They must decide on selling Carlos Beltran, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller by Major League Baseball’s Aug. 1 deadline.
The Yankees are seven games out of first place in the AL East, 22nd in baseball with an average of 4.15 runs scored per game, and have a 7.8% chance to make the postseason, according to Baseball Prospectus. The decision, to many, is clear by now. But given the stubborn nature of the team’s front office, one that president Randy Levine declared “not quitters,” and the recent performance of the team, the line splitting ‘buyers’ and ‘sellers’ is blurring. To borrow from Birdman, the Yankees may be done, but they’re not finished.
The needle even seems to drastically change by the day. After two straight losses out of the break to the Red Sox, it seemed fans would never see Chapman pitch again. After Michael Pineda’s brilliant six shutout innings and eight strikeouts on Wednesday gave the Yankees a fourth straight win, it felt like the Yankees were finally getting solid contributions from their starters. The mood keeps changing, and unfortunately for general manager Brian Cashman, the team is running out of time.
Despite a nice run of starts from the Yankees’ most volatile arms, the fact remains it’s going to take at least three more turns through the rotation to restore confidence. It’ll take more than just a nice couple of innings from Anthony Swarzak for the righty to become the Yankees’ ‘bridge to the big three.’ And, without any contributions from Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann, the offense will fade. Beltran (.320) and Gregorius (.273) have continued to hit over the homestand, but only Brett Gardner (.308) and Starlin Castro (.304) have joined them. Four bats, one of which is graying, one of which is pretty unproven outside of this season, and two that are incredibly unpredictable, won’t last and put the Yankees in position to claim a Wild Card berth.
It just doesn’t feel like the Yankees will admit defeat and sell off their valuable assets, even though it’s in their best interest. What could instead happen is a small re-tool. By selling off Beltran, the team could move Aaron Judge into right field—a downgrade offensively, given Judge’s age and experience, but an upgrade defensively, given Beltran’s shuffling legs—and remain relatively the same. It would allow them to get younger right away and get something back for a bat they surely will not re-sign.
With reports flying that the Yankees are considering giving Chapman extension, but also are “aggressively” shopping him, the situation with the Cuban flamethrower is rather uncertain. If the team were to trade him, that would admit defeat, leaving a gaping hole in the bullpen for the remainder of the season, and dropping one of the players that sells the most tickets. It would mean a lot more for them to move Chapman rather than Beltran, in other words. It would mean that the Yankees are finally ready to accept a World Series with an aging roster this season is not happening.
That’s not an easy reality to come to grips with for a storied franchise such as this one, and a 4-3 start to an important homestand may be enough to convince management this team can win games. It surely doesn’t mean much, but to Levine, it could be just what he needs to convince himself the team is all right.
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