The August 1 trade deadline is on the horizon for the New York Yankees as the front office jostles to sort out available options to bolster the roster, especially the infield and bullpen depth. However, with the market pool shrinking, the Yanks might end up with no significant moves at the deadline.
Under this scenario, its highly plausible the New York Yankees will end up with the same lineup going into the second half of the year. However, despite lack of trade moves, the franchise can bolster the squad strength back to where it had been in the first two months. Read on to know how and when.
Yankees Need To Bet On Injured Players’ Imminent Return!
The New York Yankees went from 50-22 till June 14 to 58-40 heading into the All-Star break. They lost 18 of the last 26 games and didn’t win a series in seven chances until the Baltimore Orioles series victory. Needless to say, the awful stretch has hurt them, and it’s time to improve the exhausted roster for the second half. However, the front office might have reservations about making a significant trade that involves risking multiple high-end players. Hence, it’s ideal for the Yanks to dump the trade idea and instead focus on getting the injured guys back on the active roster. Currently, the team has five position players and seven pitchers on the injured list.
Giancarlo Stanton is by far the biggest name on the list, and his return from a hamstring injury is expected to happen by the end of the month. That would resolve the Yankees’ hitting woes to some extent. Besides, Jon Berti, who moved to 60-day IL with a strained calf, is an excellent third base reinforcement as he was hitting .273 with .649 OPS before heading onto IL. Another infielder, J.D. Davis, is dealing with stomach flu and is likely to return following the All-Star break. Meanwhile, on the pitching front, Clarke Schmidt is recovering from lat strain well. And the rotation is already good enough to make an impact, given they find consistency in the second half. In the bullpen, Nick Burdi, Ian Hamilton and Lou Trivino’s return is just a few weeks away. Hence, once the Yanks get back all these players, the roster will revive itself without any external help.
Is It Time To Move On From Alex Verdugo?
Alex Verdugo, the New York Yankees supposed left-field solution, has been highly inconsistent this year. On top of offensive struggles, Verdugo is messing up routine plays on the field, which is making up nothing short of a liability. Amid this, it’s plausible that the Yanks will end up switching the lineup.
To revive the playoff quest in the second half, its would be beneficial for the Yankees to sit Alex Verdugo out on most days and Aaron Judge play left field. The designated hitter’s position could be allocated to a hard hitting player like J.D Davis or Jon Berti until Giancarlo Stanton eventually makes a comeback by the end of July.
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