To say that the New York Yankees' bullpen is in free fall right now would be an insult to free falls, which at least imply reaching an eventual bottom. Right now, that bottom might not exist for Aaron Boone's team: Four relievers gave up a whopping 10 runs over the final three innings of a 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, just the latest in an increasingly long line of disastrous performances that has put New York's playoff positioning in jeopardy.
At this point, it's clear that major changes are coming to this unit between now and the July 31 trade deadline, and we can already sense which current relievers will be out of a job in a few days' time. But who might be coming to take their place? Which pitcher, or more accurately pitchers, should Brian Cashman target to turn this mess around?
This isn't a simple fix, unfortunately; the Yankees need multiple high-leverage arms, plus maybe another in the rotation to offer more multi-inning depth, to feel good about where they stand entering the stretch run. Luckily, though, New York can get off to one heck of a start by talking to just one team in particular: the Minnesota Twins. What could a deal look like? Let's break it down.
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Twins are the perfect team to solve the Yankees' bullpen woes
Go big or go home. It seems increasingly unlikely that the Cleveland Guardians will part with Emmanuel Clase, which means that Jhoan Duran becomes the best arm who might potentially be available at this year's deadline. Duran's combination of wipeout stuff (from his triple-digit heater to his high-90s splinker) and years of team control make him an awfully enticing addition. And as it happens, he's not the only reliever Minnesota could dangle over the next few days: Coulombe is set to hit free agency this offseason and has a 0.93 ERA on the year, handling lefties and righties with equal aplomb.
What might it take to bring both of them to the Bronx? Multiple top-100 prospects figure to be the bar for Duran alone, so New York probably has to include bright young arms like Lagrange and Schlittler, each of whom have been sensational this year. But the Yankees still have homegrown pitching depth behind them, and this year is too important not to capitalize on. From there, Flores (just the latest in a long line of promising Yankees catching prospects) could be the centerpiece for Coulombe, allowing Minnesota to replace either Ty France or Christian Vazquez. And the inclusion of Arias might be enough to pry away Castro, who would upgrade the team's bench and fit beautifully in a third-base platoon with the newly acquired Ryan McMahon.
Even still, this package might not be enough to entice the Twins to include all three of these players. But the general outline could be a starting point, and this is the sort of deal that the Yankees need to pull this season off life support. Mark Leiter Jr. and Fernando Cruz should hopefully be healthy sooner rather than later, which will help. But multiple high-leverage arms are necessary beyond that, and Minnesota figures to line up the best of any team that might be selling.