Yankees can't wait one more day to solve their Oswald Peraza problem

We're still more than a week away from this year's trade deadline, which means we've got at least a few more days left until the action really cranks up. Both buyers and sellers are desperate to get the best deal possible, after all, and often that means waiting until the last possible moment in hopes of winning a game of chicken or exercising every bit of leverage.

The New York Yankees, however, don't have that luxury. If that wasn't already clear before Monday's crucial AL East showdown against the Toronto Blue Jays, well, it sure is now. Because after another inexcusable meltdown from Oswald Peraza, Brian Cashman can't afford to wait even more more day to finally land a trade for a new third baseman.

It's bad enough that Peraza is one of the worst everyday hitters in baseball, entering play on Monday with a .450 OPS on the season. That complete lack of hitting was at least supposed to come with athleticism on the bases and competence in the field. Instead, Peraza can't even do that much: He committed a crippling throwing error in the fifth inning against Toronto, turning what should've been an inning-ending groundout into two more runs and a 4-1 Yankees deficit.

To put it bluntly: This has become unacceptable. We're now barreling toward August, and unless the Yankees stage an improbable rally, a loss on Monday (their fifth straight against Toronto dating back to before the All-Star break) will drop them to four games back in the AL East. You simply cannot run out a weak link like Peraza on a daily basis, no matter what price Cashman has to pay to find someone better.

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Yankees can't wait any longer to solve Oswald Peraza problem

To be clear, Peraza isn't the only reason the Yankees once again no-showed against a team they were battling with atop the division. Carlos Rodon battled spotty command and spotty umpiring while walking five batters, and the offense was too often non-competitive against Kevin Gausman. The Yankees have serious questions to answer about their mental and emotional toughness at this point.

But having better players would certainly help, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a contender giving regular playing time to a player worse than Peraza. If he can't even be relied upon not to make back-breaking mistakes in the field, there's simply zero excuse to allow him on the field, and the Yankees' lack of other internal options means that Cashman needs to do whatever it takes to acquire an upgrade.

Ideally, that would mean Eugenio Suarez, the Arizona Diamodnbacks slugger for whom the team is reportedly in trade talks. But if Arizona's asking price is simply too exorbitant, then Cashman needs to pivot, likely to someone like Ke'Bryan Hayes, Willi Castro or Ryan McMahon. Literally anything would be better at this point; even an average big leaguer would be worlds better than what Peraza is doing. And if the Yankees don't find the fix soon, they could find the AL East out of reach by the time the deadline rolls around.