Deadline Aftermath Thoughts

  …by Cary Greene 

August 1, 2024

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I'm not a fan routinely depleting the farm system every year at the Trade Deadline because I think having to do this shows a glaring flaw in the offseason planning and roster building process of Cashman's front office, but the Yankees have an awful lot invested in this year's team and retaining Soto this offseason is by no means a given. This may be Brian Cashman's last chance as a GM to win with the roster he's built, so I give him and the Yankees some slack with what was accomplished relative to this year's Deadline.  

Using Baseball Trade Values, Fangraphs Value stat, Sportrac and publicly available scouting reports, I’ve managed to form an initial opinion of the deals the Yankees Deadline moves. While I don’t think Cashman did enough to put the Yankees in position as a prohibitive World Series favorite, I do think he did very well overall.  

There were instances where the Yankees were looking at a rotation upgrade and they were told flat out that, “they don’t match up.” Let’s face it, the Orioles have the premier farm system from which to deal and for a team like the Yankees, trading for star power at the deadline is a very tall task because they have a much weaker system. Selling teams, as they usually do, tried once again to extract maximum value and force buying teams into overpay situations. Cashman largely avoided overpaying, so there is that to consider.  

Take for example the price the Padres paid to acquire Tanner Scott from the Marlins - they surrendered four prospects in all, three of whom were in their Top Five! In terms of total prospect cost, they traded $25.7 MTV (Snelling, Mazur, Pauley and Beshears) and received $5.6 MTV (Scott and toss-in Bryan Hoeing). I had Scott as my number one reliever target, with A.J. Puk as my number two. If Cashman were to have succeeded in trading for Scott, the Yankees likely would have put together a package even more attractive than that of the Padres. I think Roderick Arias, Clarke Schmidt and Jorbit Vivas would have been enough but that’s a really high price to pay for a closer.  

That said, think back to the prospect value the Yankees got from the Cubs when they moved Aroldis Chapman back in 2016. The Cubs needed a closer and they got their man, then they proceeded to bring home a championship. Gleyber Torres was a top prospect back then and they paid a very steep price in MTV. This year, the Yankees dodged the Deadline market’s sky high prices and they added some controllable talent that will help as much this season as they will the following one.  

Jazz Chisholm for Augustin Ramirez, Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez 

Jazz Chisholm is a very good athlete and he brings some speed on the bases along with defensive versatility. Who knows, maybe his personality is meant for the big stage of Yankee stadium. Hopefully Cashman pushed the right button in trading for Chisholm. It should be noted that per Baseball Trade Values player valuations, Cashman absolutely got the better of this deal as Chisholm came with two and half years of team control and he's worth $33.6 MTV, whereas Augustin Ramirez, Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez are worth only $16.9 MTV.  

I'm rather surprised that the Marlins didn't also insist on Caleb Durbin being part of the deal, but when the dust settled from this trade, which was the first move Cashman made as the Deadline approached, most analysts marked this one down as a win for the Yankees.  

Personally, I really liked the loud bat of Augustin Ramirez and if he continues his meteoric rise through the Minor Leagues, after a few years go by, he might make the Yankees regret dealing him away in order with now. I do think the Yankees, in the here and now, badly needed a versatile player like Chisholm so mark me down as being in favor of this move and let's face it, Brian Cashman had to do something right? It seems like this was a good first trade.  

Mark Leiter Jr. for Jack Neely (Yankees #22 Prospect) and Ben Cowles (#29) 

Given that the Yankees play half their games at Yankee stadium, dealing for a righty who happens to also be tough on left-handed batters is another good Deadline move from Cashman. Leiter was worth $15.2 MTV which means he’s a significant bullpen arm who also happens to be under team control through 2027. Detractors of Leiter will argue that his 50 percent LOB stat is a red flag and they’ll worry that he’ll allow way too many baserunners to advance and score and his 4.21 ERA certainly attests to this issue. However, the truth is that he is superb in medium to high leverage situations (.306 wOBA in low leverage, .143 in medium leverage and .289 in high leverage) and with runners in scoring position, Leiter has a .193 wOBA against. The bottom line is that Leiter makes the Yankees bullpen a lot better and Aaron Boone can immediately insert him into the higher leverage corps mix.  

With Neely’s value only tabbed at $1.6 MTV and Ben Cowles being worth a paltry $1.1 MTV, both per BTV,  I think it’s fair to say that Cashman again should receive very high marks for this deal. That said, the Cubs are turning an eye towards the future and their scouts obviously liked what they dealt for. Cowles is an intriguing middle infield prospect who is turning the corner and Neely may turn out to be an absolutely filthy late inning reliever with his big fastball and ridonculous slider. It can’t be denied that the Yankees got a ready now bullpen piece who can help for a full two more years though, so again, I like this trade very much! 

In a minor corresponding move, the Yankees traded Caleb Ferguson to the Astros to make room for Leiter - netting Minor League pitcher Kelly Anderson and $750k in International Bonus Pool money. I actually like the return on this trade, Anderson was promoted to High-A recently and he has a 2.21 ERA across two levels, with a 11.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 stat line. I think this was a minor but kind of amazing steal of a deal on a lottery ticket for the future that will also net the Yankees an extra International Amateur prospect or three to boot! 

Cashman also pulled off two other minor deal right at the Deadline. He traded with the Padres for struggling reliever Enyel De Los Santos, who has not been the pitcher he was over the past two seasons. In De Los Santos, the Yankees received a reliever with well above average K/9 rates (this year he’s ranked 22nd in MLB among relievers who’ve thrown at least 40 innings). Unfortunately, he has a 5.36 FIP and has allowed 2.45 HR/9, which is the worst mark for any reliever in MLB. Also coming over in the deal was lower level pitching prospect Thomas Balboni Jr. (no relation to Steve I don’t believe). In exchange, the Yankees shipped off the speedy Brandon Lockridge, who was having a fine season in Scranton despite having not hit a single home run yet this year.  

Did Cashman do enough? It doesn’t appear that he did but I really don’t fault him for it. Rather than get fleeced for being desperate, the two trades he made were far from overpays. He won the MTV piece of both trades that he made and I think that counts for something. He held onto all of his top prospects as well and he even managed to keep a few under the radar types as well. Cashman also improved the team on the field as well and let’s not forget, the Yankees have a number of players still trickling in off the DL to provide reinforcements, which in terms of impact, is kind of like making a number of key trades or moves.  

Cashman also didn’t deal Nestor Cortes, Gleyber Torres or any other significant pieces of the current roster. He also failed at upgrading the starting rotation and he didn’t acquire an infielder. Given that he traded away the likes of Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran and Thairo Estrada in years past and factoring in all the premium free agent infielders he might have signed if only Hal Steinbrenner had given him the checkbook, this year’s Deadline moves probably weren’t enough to make up for past transgressions. Could he have done a little bit more though? I believe the answer to that question is a resounding yes.  

I would have absolutely liked Cashman to land A.J. Puk, so I have to point out that Cashman whiffed badly in failing to acquire him. The Yankees really needed a power lefty reliever and Puk was fairly affordable. Another player I think Cashman should have attempted to land was Randy Arozarena, but I doubt the Rays would have traded him to the Yankees as I wrote earlier this week. A lot of rumors swirled yesterday as the day wore on. Cashman was trying desperately to find infield and pitching help, but there was none to be had.  

Therefore, now that the dust has settled, I give Cashman a Deadline Grade of B. If he could have landed Puk, I’d have given him an A. It’s now time for the Yankees to move forward and try to go and win a championship. Brian Cashman must be content with the roster he’s assembled, there is no turning back the clock at this point. Hopefully, he’s done barely enough to put the Yankees over the top and the jury will be out on that as August turns into September and then onwards towards October. Will the Yankees now 15 season long championship drought be ended? Stay tuned!