The New York Yankees traded for outfielder Andrew Benintendi on Wednesday … but they need to do more.
The New York Yankees finally addressed their left field hole by trading for Kansas City Royals All-Star left fielder Andrew Benintendi for three low-level minor league pitchers. Benintendi will replace Joey Gallo and his bat (or lack thereof) in left field.
While that was a much-needed move, the Yankees need to make at least three more trades before the trade deadline on August 2.
1) Trade for Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo
With Luis Severino hitting the injured list once again with a lat strain, the Yankees’ rotation is in a bit of hurt. Severino hasn’t even been throwing in two weeks so he will need some time to recover. His replacement has been Domingo German, who has been awful in his two starts. He has an ERA of 8.22 in only 7.2 innings. In that span, he has allowed 11 hits, seven runs, three homers, and an FIP of 7.43.
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Luis Castillo was an All-Star this season and he has been great for the fledgling team. In 14 starts, he has a 2.86 ERA, a 159 ERA+, a 3.21 FIP, a 1.071 WHIP, and an average of three walks and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
He also isn’t a free agent until next offseason, meaning that he would still be in the rotation for the Yankees next season.
2) Trade for Chicago Cubs reliever David Robertson
In the last few weeks, Yankees setup man Michael King (who was having a great season) suffered an elbow injury. He is done for the year. Miguel Castro (who has appeared in 32 games for the Yankees) was placed on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury. He won’t even throw a baseball for another two weeks, let alone be back in MLB games. So the Yankees need some more good, reliable arms in the bullpen.
The Yankees are very familiar with David Robertson considering that he spent parts of nine seasons with them, which would make a transition a bit easier.
After not pitching in 2020, he made a comeback with the Tampa Bay Rays last season as he had a 4.50 ERA in 12 games. The Cubs took a flier on him and he has nearly been as good as he was for the Yankees in 2011, when he was an All-Star.
This year, he has 14 saves in 35 games with an ERA of 1.83. He has a 3.25 FIP, a 0.992 WHIP, and an average of 4.3 walks and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
3) The Yankees have to trade Joey Gallo away
With Andrew Benintendi now in the fold for the Yankees, the Yankees have to get rid of Joey Gallo. He has always been streaky at the plate but he has been absolutely atrocious in the last month. In his last 27 games (since June 18), Gallo is 6-for-68. He has a slash line of .088/.262/.250 with 16 walks, three home runs, and six RBI. He has also struck out 32 times.
Defensively, he has been a good right fielder (3 Defensive Runs Saved) so, perhaps, some team will be willing to trade for him for that. Or maybe there’s a team that thinks that they can get his bat to what it once was.
The Yankees have to get whatever they can for him, even if it’s just cash. But if they can get some low-level prospect for him, who knows? That prospect could pan out.
There are a few other moves that the Yankees have to make here in the next six days but these three moves would be great moves to start off with. The Yankees have stumbled in recent weeks as they are 8-12 in their last 20 games so, perhaps, these moves would be moves that would actually make them a force in the playoffs this year.