The Star-Ledger-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees currently sit in fourth place in the American League East and after a fast start; they have struggled to win game consistently. As it stands right now, they have a roster full of young, inexperienced players and old veterans whose best days are behind them. In short, the Yankees need a change but it shouldn’t be acquired at the trade deadline.
Despite the Yankees being closer to getting back players that can help the team improve in the second half, they should become sellers, not buyers at the MLB trade deadline. Of course the Yankees need help in order to make a run at the playoffs but there aren’t any difference makers available and trying to acquire one would cost more than they should pay.
These next two seasons for the Yankees should be all about staying the course and trying to build from within the organization with young players and clearing money off the payroll. It’s been the vision of the team for a year and a half now and there’s no reason to break from the course. It’s why the Yankees didn’t re-sign some players to high contracts that lasted longer than two years this offseason and it’s also why New York didn’t throw big money at areas that needed improvement over the winter. The New York Yankees are trying to rebuild and that cannot happen by buying players at the trade deadline.
Actually the returns of Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter will be upgrades to the team after the All-Star break and can have the same effect that trading for a player could have for the Yankees. The Bombers’ biggest problem right now is scoring runs and getting good at-bats, so all three of these players will be an upgrade. The Yankees have managed to stay in the playoff hunt without these players so even if they aren’t what they used to be, they still will provide a spark for a team that needs one.
There is no denying the Yankees are an older team with high priced veterans and they need to get younger. In the next two seasons, some of those players will come off the salary cap and the Yankees will be moving in a new direction. The old core of the team will be gone and a new era of Yankees baseball will be ushered in. The Yankees have been the best baseball team in the league over the past 17 seasons and I know it’s hard to see them falter like this but this is the direction they must take for the next year and a half. They need to stay the course and resist the temptation to trade for anyone.
Right now it doesn’t appear as though the Yankees have much to sell at this point in time but you never know what a team could want and every offer should be considered. The Yankees do have an excess of bullpen pitchers and they could become expendable at the right price.
The New York Yankees are better off being sellers at the trade deadline and the team will be much better off for it in the future, which is where they should be headed.
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