Less than an hour after landing star closer David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brian Cashman's trade deadline makeover of the New York Yankees' bullpen is officially complete. According to the YES Network's Jack Curry, New York has acquired righty Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for infielder Roc Riggio (the team's No. 10 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) and left-handed pitcher Ben Shields (No. 29).
Roc Riggio and Ben Shields go to Rockies for Jake Bird
— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) July 31, 2025
Bednar gave the Yankees some desperately needed late-inning punch, but this team also just needed as many arms as possible. Injuries to Fernando Cruz, Mark Leiter Jr. and Ryan Yarbrough have left the bullpen perilously thin, and Aaron Boone needed more viable options at his disposal to avoid wearing out the inner-circle guys like Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.
Enter Bird. The top-line numbers don't look like much, with a 4.73 ERA across 45 appearances with Colorado this year. But dig under the hood a little bit, and it's not hard to see why Cashman may have made him a target as he puts the finishing touches on his pitching staff for the stretch run.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
MLB trade grade: Yankees nab potential bullpen sleeper in Rockies' Jake Bird
Bird's numbers have skyrocketed over the last few weeks: He has a 13.20 ERA over his last 17 outings dating back to June 13. Prior to that, though, he boasted a 1.40 ERA, with 50 strikeouts in just 38.1 innings of work. Curiously, he has a 7.40 ERA on the road this season compared to a 2.48 mark at Coors Field.
Clearly, the Yankees found something they liked in Bird's profile despite his recent struggles. His chase, whiff and strikeout numbers are all solid, thanks to his sweeper/curveball combination that allows him to attack both righties and lefties. It's also fair to say that he's been a bit unlucky: His expected ERA of 3.59 is more than a full run below his actual mark. He's not going to supplant Williams, Bednar or Weaver any time soon, but he's a perfectly solid middle-relief option that Matt Blake should hopefully be able to get some more out of. And he's under team control through 2028, as New York continues to plan for the future after Williams and Weaver hit free agency this winter.
Yankees grade: B
It's all too easy to dunk on the Rockies, but Riggio is a pretty solid get here. The infielder is in the midst of a breakout campaign, tearing up High-A and putting up a .878 OPS since a promotion to Double-A Somerset back in May. He's not the most physically imposing player, but he just grinds, playing hard all the time and finding ways to get the barrel to the ball consistently. That aggression can come back to bite him sometimes, but it's not hard to see him becoming a fan favorite in Colorado who can man second base, hit 15-20 homers and wreak havoc on the bases.
Shields is little more than a throw-in, though he should have a future in a big-league bullpen as a lefty with two solid breaking balls. That's not the flashiest return, but the Rockies need to find more long-term assets, and a potential starting infielder in Riggio will do them more than even a solid reliever ever could.