The New York Yankees stayed awfully quiet during the 2023 mid-season trade deadline. But to be fair, the trade market lacked options as teams opted to refrain from selling since the playoff race was wide open for almost every team. Having said that, the Bronx Bombers will most certainly not stay inactive during the off-season trade window.
The Yankees have a concerning amount of holes in the roster, including left field and center field. The construction of the pitching rotation isn’t great, either. So basically, the team needs reinforcements in every other department. Perhaps a strong utility player would make much more sense, and this Cardinals young guy could be a perfect fit.
Brendan Donovan Key Piece Of Yankees Hitting Solution Plan
Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees captain, has publicly urged the team management to acquire a hitter focused on driving hitters in scoring position and not just shooting the ball off the park. Judge wants more hitters with a high batting average and RBI rate. If that’s the approach the Bombers want to move towards, Cardinals utility player Brendan Donovan seems a perfect fit. The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner recently linked the Cardinals fan favorite to the Yanks and explained the trade scenario. He believes that despite injury concerns, Donovan is the guy the Aaron Judge needs. He is left-handed with a high on-base percentage and low strikeout rate.
Compared to the Yankees numbers, Brendan Donovan’s OPS (.787) would have ranked third after Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres. It’s important to note that the Cardinals utility star played only 95 games this year due to an elbow injury and posted .284 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs. Donovan had a strong season in 2022 as well since he received the Golden Glove Award. Speaking of an ideal offer, Kirschner says the Cardinals have an overflowing supply of young hitters. They need solid arms to balance out the roster. Thus, Clarke Schmidt, Randy Vásquez, and Clayton Beeter should be enough to lure the Cardinals into trading Donovan. Chris also stressed the fact that the Yanks should not let this opportunity pass as the market is already slim with regard to hitting options.
Yanks To Strengthen Pitching Rotation With Blockbuster Signing!
While shipping away strong arms like Clarke Schmidt and Randy Vasquez might not make sense to many Yankee fans, the team apparently has a backup plan in its fold. If most rumors are to be believed, the Yankees are expected to go all in for Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Orix Buffaloes’ phenom has an ERA of 1.72 across seven seasons. Many teams recently scouted the ace pitcher and are desperate to acquire him during upcoming free agency.
Having said that, Yoshinobu Yamamoto won’t come cheap to any team, let alone the New York Yankees. But the Bombers have reportedly set aside as much as $200 million for the ace. Now, that’s an offer Yamamoto would have a hard time saying no to. Similarly, the rivals would also have to scratch their pockets to match the offer. So far, the Yanks have a stronghold as they remain desperate to add a quality arm to their wrecked rotation.