Getty Yankees trade candidate Nestor Cortes
In MLB, where the 40-man roster limits come with no exceptions, every addition must have a subtraction. Thus, as Yankees GM Brian Cashman scours the market for a new ace starting pitcher—Tarik Skubal? Garrett Crochet? Blake Snell?—the player most rumored to be subtracted if the Yankees trade pursuit is successful can only sit and wait. That would be starter Nestor Cortes doing the sitting and waiting.
And talking.
On Monday night, amid hot rumors that the team was shopping Cortes as it seeks a rotation upgrade, Cortes got in front of microphones and sounded out his feelings on the matter.
For starters: Yes, he knows he is on the trade block. He does have social media, after all.
“It’s all over Twitter,” Cortes said, via The Athletic. “I check Twitter, obviously. I don’t think there’s anything concrete, but the word is out there. I’m aware of it.”
He continued, via SNY: “I’ve done a pretty good job of blocking it out, I’m still on this team and still trying to win for this team, so I’m just preparing for Wednesday and that’s my focus.”
Nestor Cortes Has Struggled in July
Cortes is scheduled to start on Wednesday, but as of Tuesday morning there is no telling where that will be.
Though his numbers are not great this season—he is 4-9 with a 4.13 ERA and a WHIP of 1.178, he has been reliable, making 22 starts, which is tied for the most in the league. He had a rough start to the season, but pulled it together, and in 15 starts from April 20 through July 5, he threw 89 innings and had an ERA of 3.13 with 87 strikeouts and a .239 batting average allowed.
But the last four starts have been ugly. Cortes has not gotten out of the fifth inning in any of them, and he has posted an ERA of 10.13.
Cortes is now in his third stint with the Yankees, having been drafted by the team in 2013 and re-acquired in 2021. As SNY noted, Cortes, an All-Star in 2022, “has quickly become a fan favorite for his creative and funky deliveries from the left side.”
Yankees Trade Deadline Needs to Produce an Ace as Gerrit Cole Struggles
But Cashman is not paid to field a team of fan-favorites. He needs an improvement in the starting rotation, and the hope that ace Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.40 ERA in seven starts) can return to form after missing the first three months of the year is not enough for a team with World Series aspirations.
Cortes is hopeful, though, that no Yankees trade materializes.
“I’m almost confident that the Yankees want me enough to stay here,” Cortes said. “I know it’s just sometimes they need to improve in other areas. Other than that, I’m just playing it day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute.
“Of course I want to stay. It’s a winning team. It’s a team that I got drafted by and given me many opportunities. I’ve done a lot of good, some bad, but I’m still fighting and trying to claw my way up to being a proven starter and winning for this team.”