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The New York Yankees were able to make some headline moves ahead of the trade deadline, but the group of players they did not trade away should also be noted.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman managed to bring in third baseman Ryan McMahon, utility players Jose Caballero and Amed Rosario, relievers Camilo Doval, Jake Bird and David Bednar and others, all while holding onto the team’s top young talent, including players like Spencer Jones, Jasson Dominguez and Ben Rice.
Cashman has noted that no young player in the system is considered “untouchable” but that he’s more hesitant to move some of them rather than others. Though the team might have liked to add more before the deadline, apparently none of the other available players were worth the asking prices.
But it wasn’t for lack of trying, according to SNY’s baseball insider Andy Martino.
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In response to a post on X about a “Yankee tax” that supposedly costs the team more talent in trades than would be asked of other teams, Martino noted that the Yankees would have had to deal some of their best young players to acquire St. Louis Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley.
“They tried for Ryan Helsley and would have had to give up at least one of those top guys,” Martino wrote, referring to Jones, Rice and Dominguez.
The Yankees were able to acquire several talented relievers without parting with any of those players, but it might strike fans as a bit odd that the Cardinals were asking for such significant young Yankees talent when the New York Mets ultimately landed Helsley for minor leaguers Jesus Baez, Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt.
Of course, every team evaluates prospect players differently. But Yankees fans could be forgiven for feeling that this report reinforces the narrative that their team is asked to pay a little bit more than others when it comes to padding its roster via trade.
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