These 5 New York Yankees are good as gone once reinforcements arrive

Just when they seemed poised to run away with the AL East, the New York Yankees have run aground a bit of late, losers of three in a row and four of their last five after dropping the series opener in Detroit on Monday night. And because these are the Yankees we're talking about, everyone has responded to this recent stretch by declaring in no uncertain terms that the sky is falling.

But it's worth remembering just how much adversity this team is battling at the moment. With Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham all on the IL, the fact that they still lead the division by two games feels like a win. Stanton, Fried and Grisham are all making progress, and should be back by some point before the end of July; we're still waiting on a Judge update, but the hope remains a return in August. Combine that with an expected haul at the trade deadline, and the team you see in a month or so will look very little like the team you see right now — with several players winding up on the wrong side of the math.

LHP Ryan Weathers

This one is particularly cruel, given how generally steady Weathers has been at the back of New York's rotation. But things have been a bit more wobbly of late, and more importantly, the Yankees need someone to be the victim of their looming pitching crunch.

Fried's return will bump someone from the rotation. Given his lack of workload in recent years and his injury history, that someone will almost certainly be Weathers rather than Will Warren. Plus, Weather's velocity and the fact that he's a lefty make him a better fit for a shift to the bullpen, with Schmidt likely joining him whenever he's healthy enough to return.

OF Spencer Jones

The homers are majestic, but the contact concerns have very much materialized in Jones' first extended taste of big-league pitching, with a K rate north of 40 percent and ugly numbers across the board. Jones is a solid defender, and his athleticism and ability to handle center field are useful, but it just feels like he's not quite ready yet — and his inability to handle lefties is a poor fit with the starting trio of Judge, Grisham and Cody Bellinger. You could make argue for his inclusion on the expanded roster later this year as part of a DH platoon with Stanton, but frankly, I trust Jasson Dominguez as a righty-masher more than Jones right now.

RHP Paul Blackburn

This one can't come soon enough for Yankees fans, who have watched their team try to grind through the first half of the season with a bullpen that clearly isn't good enough. It would be a shock of shocks if Brian Cashman doesn't add not just one but multiple relievers at the deadline, plus the addition of converted starters like Weathers and Schmidt. There will be multiple roster casualties once that comes to pass — you can add Ryan Yarbrough and Yerry De los Santos to this list as well — but Blackburn is at the front of the line as an ostensible long man who hasn't provided much length or effectiveness this year.

INF Max Schuemann

Schuemann was a fun story for a while, but the bloom has come off the rose a bit of late as he cools off at the plate. His on-base skills and defensive versatility are still extremely useful with the Yankees so short-handed on the position-player front. Once New York's regulars begin to return, though — plus a potential infield addition at the trade deadline — it's hard to see what role he'd play. This team already has its fair share of utility men who can hit lefty pitching between Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero.

C Ali Sanchez

Sanchez has taken over for JC Escarra as the Yankees desperately search for a righty platoon partner for Austin Wells (though Escarra is back in the Bronx with Sanchez on the paternity list). But there's a reason why the Twins' Ryan Jeffers has been probably the single most common player linked to New York in trade talks: a career Minor Leaguer, Sanchez simply isn't good enough for a team with World Series aspirations. There's virtually no chance that Cashman doesn't address this need at the deadline.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow