Yankees’ missed trade opportunity could have erased biggest weakness
David Frerker-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees were an active team at the Major League Baseball trade deadline, but they wound up acquiring only three players.
Two of those players were relief pitchers — Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos. The latter of the two was designated for assignment just two weeks after he was acquired.Â
Meanwhile, Leiter Jr. has been a massive disappointment with a 5.74 ERA in 16 games. He’s allowed at least one earned run in eight of his appearances.
The biggest concern for the Yankees going into the postseason is the bullpen. They tried to address it but failed to do so.
They were even in on All-Star closer Tanner Scott, who was traded from the Miami Marlins to the San Diego Padres.
In looking at one trade each MLB team wishes it could make, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report said the Yankees missed badly on the opportunity to acquire Scott.
“We all kind of assumed the Yankees were going to be the ones that acquired Tanner Scott from the Marlins ahead of the trade deadline. But they didn’t. And now they’re paying for it,” Miller wrote.
Having Scott at the back end of the bullpen would’ve been nice for a Yankees team that has been forced to “get creative” with its closer situation due to the struggles of Clay Holmes.
A team in the postseason without a solidified closer is a team flirting with disaster as the Yankees have multiple times this season.
Maybe they get it figured out over the last three weeks of the season, but having a talent like Scott at the back of the bullpen would’ve quelled a lot of concerns.
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Author(s)
Hickey was previously the managing editor of USA Today’s Colts Wire. His work is also featured as a fantasy football analyst for The Huddle.
