Trade deadline: Yankees should be buyers (but perhaps not aggressive buyers)

Chad Jennings
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Baseball's trade deadline is only two weeks away, and the Yankees are clearly buyers rather than sellers. A move or two could really supplement this roster and help the Yankees make a run toward the postseason.

But the Yankees are in an odd spot.

Right now, they're about as healthy as they could be. Their most significant injury is to Carlos Beltran, and he's expected back as early as Friday. They just called up their most big-league-ready prospect. They have glaring concerns -- healthy and durability issues that have lingered since spring training -- but right now, they don't necessarily have a glaring hole. Potential weaknesses? Sure. But a spot on the roster that has to be replaced or could be easily upgraded from the outside? Not really.

A few challenges as the trade deadline approaches:

The Yankees could used help at second base.

But they might already have that help on the roster.

Stephen Drew's bizarre season earned absolute support from Joe Girardi, but over the weekend the Yankees finally brought Rob Refsnyder up from Triple-A and watched him hit a key home run on Sunday. Refsnyder could be the second base solution for this season and many others going forward, but the Yankees called him up so late that they don't have much time to find out what he can do before deciding whether to make a move. Ben Zobrist looms as the most obvious second base target, but he could be traded any day now. Do the Yankees need to pounce on Zobrist, or is Refsnyder going to solve the second base situation? There's not much time to figure that out.

Rotation depth would ease some injury concerns.

But right now, there's no easy place to put a pitcher.

Mike Axisa over at River Ave. Blues tackled this very issue this morning. With Chris Capuano, Bryan Mitchell and Adam Warren in the bullpen, the Yankees don't really have a spot starter stretched out and ready to start whenever necessary. The bullpen could probably piece together a start, but the team's sixth starter right now might be either Luis Severino (a top prospect who ideally won't be moved up and based on short-term need) and Esmil Rogers (the team's failed long man from earlier this season). Trading for some rotation depth would help, but what would the Yankees do with the extra arm? If it's a trade for Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto, that's one thing. That's a significant addition and the Yankees would simply have to boot someone like CC Sabathia or Nathan Eovaldi to the bullpen (of course, a trade like that would surely require giving up at least one of the high-end prospects that the Yankees want to keep). If the Yankees instead trade for back-end depth, where would that pitcher go? Into the bullpen so that Mitchell can be stretched out in Triple-A? Would a back-end guy really replace Sabathia? Is Warren just as good as some other team's fourth starter?

A right-handed bat would bring some balance.

But there's no open position for that bat to play.

The Yankees have plenty of switch hitters, which keeps lineup balance from being a huge issue, but their only right-handed everyday player is Alex Rodriguez (and maybe Refsnyder, depending on how they use him). If the Yankees are going to trade for a bat, a right-handed hitter probably makes more sense than a lefty. But who's spot on the roster would the new guy take? Would be nice to find a guy who can spell Gregorius, Drew and Headley -- who's been better from the left side than the right side -- but that player would either have to replace Refsnyder, replace Drew (which means being a viable shortstop) or replace Garrett Jones, who actually fits pretty well as a left-handed bat who can platoon with Chris Young if an outfielder gets hurt or fill in for Rodriguez, whose off days will clearly come against right-handed pitchers. If Refsnyder can play second and Beltran's healthy enough to play right, where is a significant offensive addition going to play?

High-end prospects make a big trade possible.

But they're close to actually helping out in New York.

If the Yankees want to get involved with one of the biggest names on the trade market -- Hamels, Cueto, Justin Upton -- they probably have the pieces to do so with Luis Severino, Aaron Judge and Greg Bird quickly proving themselves in the highest levels of the minor leagues. They also have Refsnyder, Gary Sanchez and a high-end, low-level talent in Jorge Mateo. The Yankees have the prospects to make a splash if they'd like, but they've taken a lot of pride in rebuilding the minor league system, and making a huge move would require losing a good chunk of that talent. That doesn't seem to be the direction the Yankees are heading. Most recent trades have either focused on giving up major league players -- Vidal Nuno, Yangervis Solarte, Kelly Johnson, Martin Prado, Shane Greene, Francisco Cervelli -- or taking on salary. If the Yankees don't want to part with their top young prospects, maybe they could work out a smaller trade simply to add depth.

The team's needs could be significantly different next month.

But it might be too late to make a significant move at that point.

Let's say Beltran comes back this weekend, the rotation makes a few turns without a health scare, and Refsnyder has a solid first few weeks in the regular lineup. If that's the case, the Yankees could get to the trade deadline without making a significant addition. A week or two after that, things could fall apart. A pitcher might get hurt, Beltran or one of the other veteran sluggers might fall apart, and Refsnyder might fall flat. Granted, any team could suffer a major injury beyond July 31, but the Yankees seem especially vulnerable. If that happens, would a worthwhile addition clear waivers and become trade eligible in August? Perhaps if the Yankees are willing to take on a bad contract, but just like trading top prospects, taking on bad deals is something the Yankees have clearly tried to avoid.

Associated Press photos

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