Yankees rumors: 3 players Brian Cashman should have traded at the deadline, but didn’t

Yankees trade Brian Cashman should’ve made but didn’t No. 1: Clay Holmes

If the New York Yankees were to sell, trading away their best assets would help them build for the future. It’s as simple as that. The issue is, there weren’t many players who carried incredible value that would give them two-or-more Top 100 prospects in baseball. 2016, this was not. But there was one player who may have netted the most value in a return package, and that’s closer Clay Holmes.

As mentioned in the previous slide, teams who moved on from their closers saw them get big returns. The St. Louis Cardinals received the Toronto Blue Jays’ No. 7 prospect Sem Robberese and Adam Kloffenstein for Jordan Hicks. Then, the Seattle Mariners received the Arizona Diamondbacks’ No. 19 prospect Dominic Canzone, their No. 29 prospect Ryan Bliss, and third baseman Josh Rojas for closer Paul Sewald.

The Yankees always find a way to develop and build a good bullpen, so trading away Holmes could have been an option. Again, look at the trade packages above. Oh, did we mention that Holmes is under team control for one more year, so his trade value is only going to decrease?

This season, Holmes recorded a 2.21 ERA, a 1.131 WHIP, a 4-2 win-loss record, 14 saves, 50 strikeouts, and 16 walks in 40.2 innings (43 games).

Cashman decided against selling, that’s fine. But he didn’t buy either to make the team better. So, it’s a path that fans and reporters just don’t understand. The Yankees may regret selling, especially with the return that Holmes could have gotten them.