Reviewing the Yankees’ Latest Moves

by Tamar Chalker

April 5, 2022

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The Yankees have made a few notable small moves in these final days before the first game of the 2022 season. While none of them appear to be big game-changing trades, the Yankees appear to be shoring up some of the holes in their roster.

On Saturday, the Yankees traded RHP Albert Abreu and LHP Robert Ahlstrom to Texas for Jose Trevino, a solid defensive catcher. With Ben Rortvedt injured and not making an appearance in Spring Training, the Yankees opted to bring in another catcher. When Rortvedt comes back, it’ll be interesting to see what the Yankees do, but that is a good problem to have.

Kyle Higashioka has had a good spring, hitting .440 in 25 at bats and collecting seven homers and 11 RBIs. He has certainly, in my opinion, shown he deserves the starting role as the season gets underway. Trevino is a couple of years younger and has played about 20 games fewer than Higgy in the Big Leagues, but has had a little more success at the plate, hitting .245/.270/.364. He made an appearance in 89 games in 2021 to Higgy’s 67.

On Sunday, the Yankees picked up RHP Miguel Castro from the Mets in exchange for LHP Joely Rodriguez. The Yankees got Rodriguez along with Joey Gallo last season. He appeared in 52 games combined in 2021 and had a 4.66 ERA. Castro appeared in 69 games for the Mets last year, going 70.1 innings and holding opposing hitters to a .189 average. He had a 3.45 ERA with 77 Ks and 43 walks. He should be a solid addition to the Yankees’ bullpen.

The last time the Yankees and the Mets had a trade of any real interest was when the Yankees got Mike Stanton from the Mets for Felix Heredia in 2004. They had a couple other minor transactions that didn’t really amount to much, but Stanton had a solid second stint in pinstripes.

The Yankees weren’t done, however, and announce on Monday night that they had gotten RHP David McKay from Tampa in exchange for cash considerations. McKay made 26 appearances for the Tigers and Mariners in 2019-2020, however, he underwent hip surgery in April of 2021, and didn’t make an appearance last year.

The Yankees have just one more Grapefruit League game before they finalize their roster for Opening Day on Thursday. I don’t think it is the team most of us were hoping for during the offseason and they are facing a tough division, but the Yankees have made some good moves that will hopefully pay off. As always, I am just relieved baseball is on its way back!