July 31st Trade Deadline Eve Fact or Fiction

The July 31^st non-waiver trading deadline ends in right around 31 hours, not that I’m counting, and the New York Yankees have some work to do despite having a comfortable lead in the American League East Division race. We mentioned yesterday on the blog that standing pat meant getting worse when teams like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are acquiring three outfielders in a week and the Kansas City Royals are snatching up every player the Yankees had targeted this summer and that is no more evident than it is today. This morning I want to do a little fact or fiction regarding the fast approaching July 31^st trading deadline specifically geared towards the New York Yankees.

Will the Yankees acquire a starting pitcher before the deadline?

With Ivan Nova being limited to just 75 pitches in his last start due to tired arm, whether that is normal or not for recent Tommy John surgery recipients or not, mixed with the fact that he wasn’t overly dominant beforehand leads me to believe that yes, the Yankees will make a move. It won’t be for Cole Hamels obviously or David Price in my opinion but a Mike Leake or Dan Haren type back end of the rotation type starter. FACT.

Will New York upgrade their bullpen and completely rid themselves of Chris Capuano?

This one is easy, the team has already designated Capuano for assignment and called up Caleb Cotham but the team could also make moves for Bryan Mitchell, Branden Pinder, Danny Burawa or a slew of other names including Tuesday night’s savior Diego Moreno. The bullpen would be better and the team would be better. I don’t think New York acquires a relief arm with so many plentiful in the minor leagues and on the 40 man roster. FACT.

Will the second base situation be solved by August 1^st?

The New York Yankees could designate Stephen Drew for assignment, bench him in favor of Brendan Ryan who has actually shown some signs of life with the bat in an extremely small sample size this season, the team could acquire Martin Prado from the Miami Marlins or they could simply call up Robert Refsnyder. The Yankees aren’t going to get in any hurry as long as Ryan is hitting and Drew hits a home run once every two weeks so I think this drags out until August or later. FICTION.

Will the four “untouchable” prospects be untouched on August 1^st?

I can get behind the notion of holding onto Luis Severino, Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo but I don’t understand the line of thinking that keeps Greg Bird untouchable. Sure he’s a great prospect and I’d like to see him in pinstripes one day but he’s not going to ever hit .300 or anywhere close even in his prime and he’s no defense wizard at first base like Mark Teixeira is. Granted he’s not a natural first baseman, he was drafted as a catcher, but he’s not a natural high average hitter either. Think Mark Teixeira this season, all home runs and doubles but that is about it. If the Phillies want Bird for Hamels without any of the other three I think the Yankees pull the trigger, and should. FICTION.

Will the blog do more posts like this in the future?

I really enjoyed this and I don’t know why I haven’t done more of them to date. FACT so be on the lookout for more fact or fiction posts. Thank you as always for the support.