As reporters awaited on the field at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, Harrison Bader walked by.
The centerfielder, an impending free agent and rumored trade chip held out of the evening’s lineup, smiled and said hello. He then asked, “Am I still on this team?” With roughly an hour to go before the 6 p.m. deadline, he then jogged away laughing at his joke.
Meanwhile, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, another Yankee on an expiring deal, wondered how he would get his goldendoodle, Bella, to a new location in the event of a trade.
“It’s part of the business,” the utilityman said, “but the outside stuff is the harder part.”
But Bader, Kiner-Falefa and the rest of the Yankees’ major league roster stayed put. Brian Cashman failed to swing any earth-shattering deals, only acquiring right-handed relievers Keynan Middleton from the White Sox and Spencer Howard from the Rangers.
“I’d say it wasn’t a deep trade deadline in terms of options,” Cashman said. “So navigating it wasn’t easy, but we were open minded to a lot of different things and we stayed engaged every step of the way.”
The general manager added that he considered “a lot of different lanes” when it came to buying, selling or some sort of middle ground, but the Yankees became “cautious buyers” following their post-All-Star break struggles. Cashman also said that he had some discussions with teams that initially intended to sell before getting hot and changing their minds.
Cashman also stated that Hal Steinbrenner was willing to “consider anything” when asked about surpassing the highest luxury tax threshold, which has inexcusably hindered the Yankees in past years.
While an argument could have been made for more aggressive buying, the Yankees’ performance on the field hasn’t exactly made a compelling case. The team began the day 55-51 and 3.5 games out of the American League’s third Wild Card. The Blue Jays occupy that spot, while the Red Sox and Angels led the Yankees in the race. Toronto and Los Angeles committed to buying well before Tuesday.
“We really haven’t helped our case,” said an honest Kiner-Falefa, whose Yankees’ recorded losing records in June and July. “We’ve tried to play better, but we haven’t. And we put the front office in a weird spot. So whatever they do, it’s on us.”
A weird spot indeed. As of 4 p.m., even Aaron Boone wasn’t sure what direction his team would go in, if any at all. He called that “a little bit different” compared to previous seasons.
“You could see everything from nothing to guys leaving to guys coming,” Boone said.
Some fans were split between investing more in this season and selling in an effort to retool for the future. But “nothing” is more or less what the Yankees did.
Howard, a former top prospect with years of control, has a 7.20 ERA for his career. Middleton, another impending free agent, is a useful reliever, but he’s no difference maker. There weren’t many of those to begin with on the market, and the Yankees’ 11th-hour approach to the deadline left even fewer options on the table as the days passed.
The reality is that no one was going to contribute more to a turnaround than the players the Yankees already have. Trades or not, the team can’t make a legitimate — and still attainable — run unless incumbent hitters like Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu produce consistently. If they don’t, there’s no reason for opponents to pitch to Aaron Judge, who is trying to carry a failing offense on a toe that is not 100% healed.
“I do think we have the talent,” Cashman insisted despite months of contradicting evidence. “We do have the capabilities. Saying it is one thing. I know watching it lately hasn’t been anything close to what you feel comfortable with.”
While members of the aforementioned trio have all had stretches of success for varying lengths this season, none have come close to playing to the backs of their baseball cards. There’s been little reason to believe they will.
Stanton entered Tuesday hitting below The Mendoza Line. Rizzo has looked lost at the plate since June began. LeMahieu has swung the bat better since the All-Star break, but he’s hit below league average this season, and fear of regression is reasonable.
It takes two to tango in trade talks, as Cashman likes to say — he noted that adding a left fielder, in particular, has been a challenge — but not upgrading this roster in a serious manner speaks volumes when it comes to the front office’s belief in the 2023 Yankees. Yet the team has publicly maintained faith in its holdovers all season while also acting like the returns of injured players count as additions when they don’t.
“Obviously, we’re in it to win it,” Cashman said in spite of a trade season that said otherwise. “So we stayed the course because of that. Obviously, we’ve got Nestor [Cortes] coming back, as well as [Jonathan] Loáisiga, soon, and we know that we have better baseball in us, although we haven’t shown that and proven that. But we’ve got two more months to show that now.”
Having made no moves of significance on Tuesday, the Yankees will have to hope that that repeatedly stated faith is rewarded the rest of the season, no matter how misplaced it appears.
“Our focus in that room is trying to get some certain individuals going that have struggled, and as a team ultimately going,” Boone said. “I don’t think we’ve lost belief in that.
“There’s confidence that we can turn it around. But that’s the task at hand for all of us.”
()
