Thoughts following the 2025 trade deadline

I did not realize this going into trade deadline day, but there were only three games on the schedule Thursday. The Yankees played in one of them, and of course it featured an almost three-hour rain delay. Because of the rain delay, the timing meant no one was pulled off the team plane to Miami after getting traded. For the best, I suppose.

This was, by frickin’ far, the busiest trade deadline for the Yankees in several years. They made six trades before Thursday’s 6pm ET deadline on top of the Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario deals a few days ago. The Yankees needed to remake their bench and overhaul their bullpen (and get a third baseman), and they did exactly that. Here are Wednesday’s and Thursday’s trades in no particular order:

Yankees get: RHRP David Bednar
Pirates get: C Rafael Flores, C Edgleen Perez, OF Brian Sanchez

Yankees get: RHRP Camilo Doval
Giants get: LHSP Carlos de la Rosa, IF Parks Harber, C Jesus Rodriguez, RHSP Trystan Vrieling

Yankees get: RHRP Jake Bird
Rockies get: 2B Roc Riggio, LHSP Ben Shields

Yankees get: UTIL José Caballero
Rays get: OF Everson Pereira, cash or a player to be named later

Yankees get: OF Wilberson De Pena, international bonus pool money
Angels get: IF Oswald Peraza

Yankees get: OF Austin Slater
White Sox get: RHSP Gage Ziehl

It’s … a lot. More than I expected, honestly. Relievers started to come off the board late Wednesday, and I know I was sitting there getting impatient Thursday morning, then it was an avalanche of trades during the rain delay. Am I happy about the deadline and the individual moves? Yes. Yes I am. The Yankees are still within striking distance in the AL East and the AL is winnable in general. They went for it.

"Love what (we) were able to do,” Aaron Boone said about the deadline. “I think we're a better club today than yesterday, and certainly today than we were last week. Now we know what we are going with and what we got, and onward.”

Including McMahon and Rosario, the Yankees brought in seven new big league players at the deadline, so more than one quarter of a 26-man roster. It is quite the overhaul. There’s a lot to go over, so let’s dive into it.

The bullpen makeover

Going into Thursday, the Yankees’ bullpen ranked 26th in ERA and 29th in WAR since June 1st, and it's really hard to contend when your bullpen is that leaky. The Yankees needed multiple relievers, not just one new guy, and they also needed velocity. This is the softest tossing bullpen in baseball. Here is average reliever fastball velocity entering Thursday:

30. Yankees: 93.0 mph
29. Rangers: 93.0 mph
28. Guardians: 93.2 mph
27. Marlins: 93.4 mph
26. Giants: 93.5 mph

Throwing fastballs by hitters is something the Yankees have been unable to do this year. In Bednar and Doval, they imported two premium velocity dudes. Bednar’s four-seamer has averaged 97.1 mph this year. Doval’s four-seamer sits 98.2 mph and has topped out at 101.3 mph. Any guesses who the last Yankees’ reliever to hit 100 mph is? I’ll wait.

…

…

…

It was Albert Abreu on May 21st, 2023. Pretty good chance Doval hits 100 mph in his first appearance as a Yankee, whenever that happens. Velocity isn’t everything but it is an important piece of the pie, and the Yankees straight up did not have enough of it this year or last year. Bednar and Doval bring it. 

Also, the new relievers all bring different looks to a bullpen that was too homogeneous. The Yankees went overboard with the “92-95 with a splitter/changeup” types. Bednar is four-seamer/curveball/splitter. Doval is four-seamer, sinker, and a slider that is so hard it looks like a cutter. Bird is a breaking ball monster who throws 65% sweepers and curveballs. His mid-90s fastball is more of a show-me pitch.

Here’s what I wrote about Bednar last week. Also, I will toot my own horn and point out I first mentioned him as a trade target way back in November 2020, when he was still with the Padres (Bednar was part of the Joe Musgrove trade). Bednar pitched so poorly last year and in early April that he was demoted to Triple-A for a spell, but he’s been lights-out since returning: 1.70 ERA (1.47 FIP) with 34.5 K% and 5.5 BB%. That's who he was from 2021-23.

Doval, 28, has a 3.09 ERA (3.18 FIP) with 26.2 K%, 12.6 BB%, and 52.6 GB% this year. Walks are part of his game, he’s going to drive us nuts at times, but the bat-missing and ground ball ability is strong. Doval has been in and out of the closer’s role the last few years. He’s pitched in every situation, really. Closer, setup, middle relief, whatever. He’s not one of those “I need to pitch the ninth inning” dudes.

Bird is a Statcast > stats type. The 4.73 ERA is unsightly, but he also has a 3.45 FIP with 3.59 xERA with 26.3 K%, 9.7 BB%, and 48.0 GB%. This is a classic “get him away from the Rockies and we’ll fix him right up” situation, not that coaching him up is guaranteed to happen. Two swing and miss breaking balls and a firm mid-90s fastball is a good foundation though. The Yankees need more quality breaking balls in the bullpen.

Also, none of these guys are rentals! Bednar is under team control through 2026, Doval through 2027, and Bird through 2028. Reliever team control is fickle, these guys can go south in a hurry (remember how excited we were for five years of Scott Effross?), but with Luke Weaver and Devin Williams set to become free agents after the season, the extra years of control are nice. They could really come in handy.

Boone didn’t give a definitive answer but I got the sense Williams will remain the closer when Boone was asked about bullpen roles Thursday. I think Bednar is the Yankees’ best reliever now and would like him to work fireman duty. Use him against the other team’s best hitters regardless of inning, that kinda thing. Doval and Weaver can fill in the gaps with Tim Hill doing his left-on-left thing.

The three new relievers check an awful lot of boxes. Velocity? Check. Bednar and Doval have it. Different looks? Also check. They all bring different pitch mixes compared to what the Yankees had in the bullpen. Multiple years of control? That’s another check. Short of blowing up the system for Jhoan Duran (traded to the Phillies) or Mason Miller (Padres), the Yankees did about as well as they could have, bullpen-wise. Three splendid pickups.

The new utility infielder

Remember Gerrit Cole’s finger wag a few years ago? This?

That was directed at Caballero, who was with the Mariners at the time. Caballero is, for lack of a better term, an annoying little shit who manipulates the pitch clock and gets under the pitcher’s skin. He did it to Cole that night, Cole didn’t like it, then he struck him out to end the inning and finger-wagged on his way back to the dugout. I guess Caballero and Cole have a good icebreaker whenever they meet.

"I was winning today regardless,” Caballero joked about changing dugouts after Thursday's game. "Now you've got to give your best and hopefully bring a championship to this city, something that I'm sure the fans have been expecting for a long time.”

Caballero is the new utility infielder, and he’s much more than that. He’s played every position except catcher and first base in the big leagues, and he plays them well. Short, second, third, right, left, whatever. Caballero doesn’t do much at the plate, but his career .225/.311/.331 (88 wRC+) line is way better than what Peraza was giving the Yankees, plus Caballero’s 34-for-42 (81%) stealing bases. Those 34 steals lead the AL.

Now 28, Caballero has long been better against lefties (career 110 wRC+) than righties (77 wRC+), giving the Yankees another platoon option. They can use him and Rosario as righty hitting complements to McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr., which is not nothing. You have to go through high-end lefties like Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal, and Framber Valdez to get out of the AL in October. The more righty bats, the better.

Caballero is one of those players you hate when he’s on the other team and love when he’s on your team. He’s fast, he’s versatile and a good defender, and he drives the opponent nuts. How much the Yankees will play him and how exactly they will use him, I do not know, but Caballero provides coverage all over the field and a premium pinch-running threat. That will no doubt come in handy these next two months.

Peraza never panned out and was unplayable at the plate this season. His 26 wRC+ is third worst among the 330 players with at least 150 plate appearances. Peraza can play defense, Caballero is a downgrade in the field from Peraza, but there is a minimum acceptable standard on offense, and Peraza did not meet it. I don’t want to go too overboard talking about a utility guy, but Caballero is a big upgrade in that role. As an added bonus, he has options remaining and is under team control through 2029.

"I'm going to be forever grateful to the Yankees organization for giving me an opportunity to embark on and start this career,” Peraza said after the trade. “I'll always be grateful for that. It's kind of tough. You know, my energy level might be a little low right now, but everything happens for a reason."

A needed righty bat

Even after bringing in Rosario, the Yankees needed another righty bench bat, and they wound up with two more before the deadline: Caballero and Slater. I mentioned Slater as a possible target for such a role earlier this week. Here’s what I wrote:

OF Austin Slater, White Sox: Slater is in the big leagues because he can hit lefties, period. That’s all he does. It’s a .274/.357/.565 (154 wRC+) line against lefties this year and a career 123 wRC+ against southpaws. Slater’s outfield defense is sketchy and he has played some first base in the past. He’s a rental on a $1.75M contract. The White Sox signed this guy specifically so they could trade him for a prospect at the deadline. Give them a Rosario-esque package and call it a deal.

Slater gives the Yankees a true fourth outfielder, something they haven’t had since Aaron Judge got hurt, and he’s a natural platoon partner for Jasson Domínguez. He can also pinch-hit against lefties in the late innings. Slater did that plenty earlier in his career with those platoon-happy Farhan Zaidi era Giants. He’s a career .258/.424/.449 (147 wRC+) hitter in 228 pinch-hit plate appearances.

Domínguez had a mini-BABIP heater against lefties a few weeks back but still has a .205/.283/.295 (64 wRC+) line against them this year, including a 71 wRC+ against lefties since June 1st. It’s August and it’s time to flip the switch to what most helps the team win. The Yankees and Domínguez can go back to developing his righty swing later. The vs. LHP lineup could look like this until Judge returns:

1. 2B Amed Rosario
2. RF Cody Bellinger
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. LF Austin Slater
6. SS Anthony Volpe
7. 3B José Caballero 
8. CF Trent Grisham
9. C Austin Wells

The exact batting order is whatever, but those are the names. The Yankees started five lefties and a switch-hitter who doesn’t hit lefties against lefty Ranger Suárez last weekend. That couldn’t continue. The Caballero and Slater pickups are small, but along with Rosario, they give the Yankees a much more functional bench and more weapons against lefties. I’m very pleased with the bench additions.

(I’m excited to fire up some Saved by the Bell puns with Cody Bellinger and Austin Slater.)

About the prospects

The Yankees have not traded a top prospect at the deadline in a very long time. They trade second and third tier prospects all the time, but not the very best the system has to offer, and that was again true at the deadline. Here’s what you need to know about the 11 (!) prospects the Yankees traded prior to the deadline Thursday:

LHP Carlos de la Rosa (Doval trade): de la Rosa, 17, is a Dominican Summer League kid the Yankees signed this past January as part of their 2025 international amateur free agent class. He is very raw. We’re talking low-90s with a work-in-progress curveball and changeup, but he seems to know what he’s doing on the mound. The Giants are getting in on the ground floor of a pitcher with starter upside.

C Rafael Flores (Bednar trade): The Yankees are reliably excellent at developing catchers (defensively, at least) and it was a given they would at least try to deal from their catching prospects at the deadline. Flores went from undrafted free agent signing in 2022 to top 10-ish prospect in the system in 2024 to traded for 1.5 years of a late-inning reliever in 2025. That is tidy work by the catcher development folks. Flores is hitting .279/.351/.475 (141 wRC+) with 16 homers between Double-A and Triple-A this year. 

IF Parks Harber (Doval trade): Like Flores, Harber was signed as an undrafted free agent. The Yankees signed him last July. The soon-to-be 24-year-old is hitting .319/.404/.510 (161 wRC+) with six homers in 54 games split between the two Single-A levels this year. I don’t have much on Harber other than he’s a right-handed hitter the Yankees were trying to make work at third base even though he spent more time at first base in college. Good minor league performer but not a significant prospect.

OF Everson Pereira (Caballero trade): Yes, Pereira is still prospect-eligible. Now 24, he’s hitting .254/.357/.507 (127 wRC+) with 19 homers in 70 Triple-A games. It’s his third year at the level. It’s still the same story with Pereira. Big power with a lot of strikeouts (28.7%) and swinging strikes (19.5%). That 19.5% swinging strike rate would be the highest among qualified big league hitters by two percentage points. Similar to Peraza, the Yankees never seemed eager to give Pereira playing time. He’ll be out of options next season.

C Edgleen Perez (Bednar trade): Boy, the Yankees cut bait on Perez quick, huh? He was my No. 15 prospect entering the season and had a ton of buzz this spring. Fast forward to the deadline, and Perez is hitting .209/.368/.236 (91 wRC+) with no home runs in 83 Low-A games. He turned only 19 in May, so there’s a lot of development ahead of him, though the underlying offensive markers were not strong. Perez’s whole thing was hunting walks and not focusing on driving the baseball. He was still a top 20-ish prospect in the system. I don’t want to act like he stinks now. The arrow had started to point down though.

OF Brian Sanchez (Bednar trade): Acquired in the Jake Bauers trade with the Brewers at the 2023 non-tender deadline, Sanchez was one of my Not Top 30 Prospects entering 2025. He would have made the leap into the top 30 in a midseason update. Sanchez, 21, is slashing .281/.373/.438 (129 wRC+) with four homers and 24 steals in 63 Low-A games. His exit velocities and chase rate are strong. The defense is a question long-term. Sanchez looks the part of a solid lefty platoon bat. The Yankees should always trade prospects with that profile when they’re in Low-A for immediate MLB help.

2B Roc Riggio (Bird trade): I fear the Rockies have already won this trade simply because they got a guy named Roc. Riggio fell out of my Top 30 Prospects this year but played his way back into a hypothetical midseason update, hitting .264/.370/.567 (170 wRC+) with 18 home runs in 62 games while reaching Double-A. Stats aside, Riggio is a pretty limited player. He’s limited to second base defensively and isn’t especially good there, and his power plays only to the pull side and only on the inner half of the plate. There’s a big leaguer here. Just not someone who plays a key role for a contender.

C Jesus Rodriguez (Doval trade): The Yankees traded both Triple-A catchers at the deadline. Flores went for Bednar and Rodriguez, who’s hitting .300/.394/.404 (118 wRC+) between Double-A and Triple-A this year, went for Doval. I had him as a Not Top 30 Prospect before the season and he’s morphed into a swing decision guy over the last few months. Rodriguez got himself in trouble when he chased out of the zone in the past. He’s been more disciplined this year. Even after the deadline, the Yankees have Ben Rice and Austin Wells in the Bronx and J.C. Escarra in Scranton. I thought they might trade Escarra before the deadline Thursday. Flores and Rodriguez went instead.

LHP Ben Shields (Bird trade): Shields is a personal favorite. Like Flores and Harber, he’s a former undrafted free agent, and I had him at No. 26 in the system before this season. He missed the start of the season with a shoulder issue and has a 3.03 ERA (2.68 FIP) in 35.2 innings since returning. Shields is already 26 and, before the season, was described to me as a potential utility pitcher, someone who could be a really good once through the order guy, but not someone you want taking the ball every five days.

RHP Trystan Vrieling (Doval trade): A third round pick in 2022, Vrieling has been limited to 201 pro innings because of injuries. The 24-year-old has a 4.36 ERA (4.07 FIP) in 53.2 innings at mostly Double-A this year. Vrieling’s stuff has been pretty ordinary since his 2023 elbow fracture. He looks like a potential up/down type, though the Giants and Oracle Park have turned pitchers like this into No. 4 starters at times. Realistically, Vrieling was an emergency deep depth option for the Yankees, and not much more.

RHP Gage Ziehl (Slater trade): My No. 12 prospect before the season, I ranked Ziehl too high because I was giving him credit for being the next mid-round draft pick breakout pitcher before it happened. He was just okay in Low-A (4.15 ERA and 3.62 FIP) despite being a three-year college guy, and his stuff didn’t pop in terms of velocity, movement, etc. The level up didn’t happen and the Yankees moved on quickly.

The Yankees received OF Wilberson De Pena in the Peraza trade and I got nothing on him. He’s 18 and he’s hitting .211/.296/.451 (82 wRC+) in the Dominican Summer League this year. De Pena is not a notable prospect. You can only expect so much for Peraza, you know? I don’t know how much international bonus pool money the Yankees received in the Peraza trade or how they’ll use it, but they will use it. They wouldn't have acquired it otherwise.

Including the McMahon and Rosario trades, Baseball America’s midseason rankings (subs. req’d) says the Yankees traded their No. 8 (Flores), 13 (Pereira), 16 (Perez), 17 (LHP Griffin Herring for McMahon), 18 (Ziehl), 22 (Riggio), 23 (Clayton Beeter for Rosario), 24 (Sanchez), 25 (de la Rosa), and 29 (Rodriguez) prospects. Harber, Shields, Vrieling, and RHP Josh Grosz (McMahon trade) were unranked, but still, 10 of their top 30 prospects traded! Sheesh. 

And yet, no top prospects. Carlos Lagrange, George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones, and Cam Schlittler remain. Flores is the best prospect the Yankees traded by a decent margin I think, and it was hard to see him as anything more than a future backup here. Maybe de la Rosa will come back and bite the Yankees down the line, but when Judge, Max Fried, et al are in their 30s and ready to win right now, trade the rookie ball kid for immediate big league help. No future centerpiece was dealt.

Also, the Yankees didn’t clear their looming Rule 5 Draft roster logjam much. Flores and Vrieling are the only traded prospects who have to be added to the 40-man roster after this season, and Vrieling is far from a lock to be protected. The 40-man situation come Rule 5 Draft protection time in November will be interesting. For now, the Yankees got the help they needed at the deadline, and didn’t part with any tippy top prospects to get it.

Roster stuff

Caballero and Doval will be with the Yankees on Friday. Caballero only had to change dugouts after the trade, and Doval was conveniently in New York with the Giants to play the Mets this weekend, so he was able to jump on the team charter. The Pirates are in Denver to play the Rockies. Bednar and Bird are both coming from Colorado and may not join the Yankees until Saturday. As for the 26-man man roster moves, methinks they will be:

• Caballero steps into Peraza’s spot. Easy move there.

• Yerry De Los Santos was optioned after Thursday’s game for Doval. Yerry threw three awesome innings and won’t be available for a few days. Sucks he was sent down after that performance, but that’s how bullpen shuttles work.

• Ian Hamilton was also optioned after Thursday’s game. I think he’s going down for a fresh arm (Jayvien Sandridge since Effross and Allan Winans are in their 15-day waiting periods after being sent down recently?) until Bednar and/or Bird join the team.

• Once Bednar and Bird arrive, that fresh arm will go down and so will Brent Headrick.

(Escarra was sent down Thursday to clear a 26-man roster spot for Slater. Sorry, J.C., but the three lefty hitting catchers thing had run its course.)

What happens when Mark Leiter Jr. comes back next week? Or Fernandez Cruz and Ryan Yarbrough in a few weeks? Beats me. Worry about it when they’re ready to return and not a moment sooner. Slater could very well get DFAed when Judge returns. Either that or the Yankees are going to send Domínguez to the minors, and I don’t see that. Again, worry about this when Judge returns.

As for the 40-man roster, the Yankees brought in five 40-man players (Bednar, Bird, Caballero, Doval, Slater) and sent out three (Peraza, Pereira, Rodriguez). To open the other two 40-man spots, Clarke Schmidt was transferred to the 60-day injured list and Bryan De La Cruz was DFAed. The Yankees will have to open another 40-man spot when Luis Gil is activated this weekend. Braden Shewmake has somehow been on the 40-man all season. His time may come to an end for Gil. We’ll see.

Miscellany

Joel Sherman says the Yankees had talks about Williams, though that was deadline due diligence more than shopping him and looking to move him. I know Williams blew the save Wednesday, but he has been the Yankees' best reliever since early May. I’m glad the Yankees added to the bullpen and didn’t subtract Williams along the way … Andy Martino says the Yankees talked to a team about Bellinger and Goldschmidt about 7-10 days before the trade deadline. That strikes me as “we’re doing our due diligence in case we have to sell” more than a more serious discussion, but who knows? Obviously they didn’t go anywhere … Jon Heyman says the Yankees would only trade Spencer Jones for Paul Skenes, which I don’t buy for a second. You’re telling me that if, say, the Royals offered Bobby Witt Jr. for Jones, the Yankees would say no? Of course not. Jones ultimately didn’t go anywhere and I’m sure the Yankees don’t want to trade him, but Skenes being the only guy you’d move him for? Come on … And finally, Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d) says the Yankees reached out to several people to get background info on McMahon before the trade, which is standard operating procedure. Among those they talked to: DJ LeMahieu, who gave his former Rockies teammate a “strong recommendation.” The Yankees released LeMahieu on July 10th but it seems there’s no hard feelings. It’s a business. These guys know that, especially the veterans. (Or maybe LeMahieu gave the Yankees bad intel as payback.)

Final thoughts

I would’ve liked another lefty reliever. The Yankees have righties who can get out lefties (Bednar, Weaver, etc.), but some hitters just struggle with that left-on-left look, and Tim Hill is the only option the Yankees have from that side. Hill will see a lot of Yordan Alvarez, Kerry Carpenter/Riley Greene, and Roman Anthony/Jarren Duran in October, I guess. 

I didn't like that the Yankees were unable to get another starting pitcher. I know Gil is coming back Sunday, but Cole and Schmidt are done for 2025. At least a depth starter to chew up innings would've been nice. Beefing up the bullpen was a good alternative though. Deep bullpens are a must in October and now the Yankees have one. Besides, other than Merrill Kelly, injured Shane Bieber, and maybe Charlie Morton, no postseason-worthy starters were moved Thursday. Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen stayed put.

“We certainly knocked on many doors regarding potential starting pitching,” Brian Cashman said. “But obviously we weren't able to match up in that category.”

Other than being nitpicky about a lefty reliever, I am very happy with the bench and bullpen additions. The Yankees did more Thursday than I expected. A lot more, really. I figured they would get one late-inning reliever and one middle reliever, a Slater type for the bench, and call it a deadline. Getting three relievers, none of whom will be out of place in high leverage situations, and Caballero on top of Slater is going above and beyond. On paper, this is the best trade deadline the Yankees have had in years, and it needed to be given the state of the roster and the standings.