Nestor Cortes' Yankees tweet could come back to haunt him, thanks to latest trade intel

The New York Yankees were one of the worst teams in baseball since mid-June. The spotlight was on them. which was understandable. If a New York team, especially the Yankees struggles, the pressure is on.

During the All-Star Game, Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes went after critics of the team, particularly those in the league. Cortes claimed that everyone that talks bad about the Yankees "wants to be us." Cortes closed out his tweet by saying he's "blessed to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end."

Well, this tweet could age incredibly poorly, given some new trade deadline intel.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Fabian Ardaya, and Katie Woo (subscription required), the Yankees have an interest in St. Louis Cardinals utility player Tommy Edman. In that article, however, The Athletic notes that the Cardinals "could pursue Cortes" in a return for Edman.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes linked to Cardinals in trade rumors

If Cortes is given the boot by the Yankees and dealt to a new team, his tweet could enter the "tweets that aged poorly Hall of Fame."

It is known that the Cardinals are looking for starting rotation help ahead of the trade deadline, but it doesn't sound like they'll be shopping for top of the line arms. Woo notes that Cortes fits as a potential target since he is a left-handed pitcher, which the Cardinals don't have in the rotation, is only making $3.95 million this year, and only has one more year of arbitration remaining.

This season, Cortes thrived at Yankee Stadium while struggling mightily on the road. But since returning from the All-Star break, Cortes has struggled no matter the ballpark he was playing in. Through two starts since returning from the All-Star break, Cortes owns a 10.00 ERA, a 2.33 WHIP, six strikeouts, and four walks in 9.0 innings. Not to mention, batters hold a .415 average against Cortes since returning from the All-Star break.

As for the season as a whole, Cortes recorded a 4.13 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, 116 strikeouts, and 26 walks over 124.1 innings. At home, Cortes holds a 2.48 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP, and a 4-4 win-loss record in 11 games. On the road, Cortes owns a 6.18 ERA, a 1.61 WHIP, and an 0-5 win-loss record in 11 games.

Will the Yankees trade Cortes? We won't know until the trade deadline. But Cortes is listed as a potential pitcher the Cardinals could pursue, particularly one that could be had in a return for Edman.