Fansided

3 trades Yankees must make to answer Rays-Nelson Cruz move

By Scott Rogust

Jul 11, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) watches the action from the dugout during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 11, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) watches the action from the dugout during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports /
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Starling Marte, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees
Starling Marte, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees. (Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports) /

2. Starling Marte

Remember when the Yankees traded Mike Tauchman to the San Francisco Giants because they felt they had too many outfielders? Well, life came at the Yankees fast, especially in center field.

Aaron Hicks, the everyday starting center fielder, suffered a season-ending wrist injury. That forced Yankees manager Aaron Boone to rely on backup Brett Gardner to fill the void, who is batting below .200 as of this writing. The Yankees need a quality bat in center, and luckily for them, Starling Marte of the Miami Marlins may be available.

Marte is set to become a free agent at the end of this season, and reports in the past week indicated that he turned down a three-year, $30-plus million contract extension with the Marlins. With that, the expectation is that Marte will be moved at the deadline. One of the teams to reportedly check in on the outfielders services are the Yankees.

This season, Marte is slashing .289/.388/.445 while recording seven home runs, 23 RBI, 51 runs scored, 63 hits and 19 stolen bases.

Given that the Marlins and Yankees have done business before (i.e. the Giancarlo Stanton trade), who’s to say they can’t work something out to send Marte to the Bronx? That would be quite the answer to Tampa Bay’s acquisition of Cruz.

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