Yankees Trade Could Bring Reunion With ‘Popular’ $23 Million Pitcher

The Yankees are careening toward the 2024 MLB trade deadline with any number of spots that need filling in the lineup, as well as in the pitching rotation. They’ve been connected to stars at every level, from slugger Pete Alonso to ace hurler Garrett Crochet, and whether a Yankees trade for players of that caliber can be made remains to be seen.

But one thing the Yankees are almost certain do in the coming days is add to a bullpen that has been solid statistically, yet still feels as though it needs another arm or two to help in high-pressure situations.

One guy they’re said to be interested in trading for is a player they’re intimately familiar with: Blue Jays reliever Chad Green, who pitched for the Yankees from 2016 through 2022, before leaving on a three-year, $23.3 million contract to go to Toronto.

Chad Green Had Tommy John Surgery in 2022

The possibility of a Green-to-the-Yankees trade was reported by MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, who wrote on Twitter/X on Tuesday morning:

“The Yankees are interested in a reunion with Chad Green, which makes sense on a number of levels: He’s having an excellent season in Toronto. He can close or pitch earlier leverage situations. He was a popular teammate in New York. He’s signed for 2025.”

Green is currently having an outstanding season for the Blue Jays, putting up a 1.88 ERA in 28 games. He missed a month-and-a-half with a shoulder injury in April and May, but has still been effective as a late-inning reliever this year. He has given up just four runs in 21 games since returning from the injury.

When he was last with the Yankees, Green went out with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, and since he has returned, he has not been the high-strikeout pitcher he had been before going under the knife.

He averaged 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings in seven years with the Yankees, but just 8.9 per nine innings after the surgery. This year, he has struck out 24 batters in 28.2 innings pitched.

Yankees Trade Deadline Sure to Add Relief Help

Green became a favorite of manager Aaron Boone because of his versatility in his time with the Yankees, serving as a closer, a late-inning reliever and even a short-inning starter—an “opener”—in tight situations.

The Yankees’ bullpen, as it stands, has not been bad by any stretch, posting a relief ERA of 3.49, the sixth-best in baseball. The relief crew has allowed a .220 batting average, which is also sixth, as well as a 1.21 WHIP, which ranks eighth. There are plenty of teams that would gladly take the production that they Yankees have gotten in the bullpen, but injuries and a lack of depth are lingering concerns.

Over the weekend, the Yankees demoted two relievers, Josh Maciejewski and Cody Morris, and are most definitely on the hunt for more arms.

The Yankees want another big arm to pair with closer Clay Holmes, with Holmes possibly moving to a setup role, depending on whom the Yankees land.

As MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote recently, the Yankees, “seem focused on the bullpen. …In addition to Marlins shutdown reliever Tanner Scott, the Yankees are believed to like White Sox reliever-turned starter Garrett Crochet, who leads the AL with 103 K’s but has an innings concern (he’s already pitched 21 ¹/₃ more innings than ever before).”