Yankees Predicted to Trade $3.9 Million Starting Pitcher at the Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees are 60-42. They are just one and a half games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. A 10-20 stretch has set the team of course slightly, but they have a chance to add reinforcements at the deadline. The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner predicts that they will trade Nestor Cortes in an attempt to add a starting infielder or left fielder at the July 30 deadline.

“The Yankees made a similar move in 2022 when they traded Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for center fielder Harrison Bader,” wrote Kirschner. “The thinking was Montgomery would not be a part of the Yankees’ playoff rotation, and general manager Brian Cashman wanted to shore up a critical spot defensively. Cortes comes with one more year of team control, and he still has value. They could use a new starting infielder or left fielder in exchange for Cortes.”

Cortes’ Season on the Yankees

The criticism the Yankees have received during their poor stretch of play does not seem to change what Cortes thinks the team can achieve. On July 16, Cortes took to X to voice his opinion on the criticism the Yankees receive and his admiration of being a Yankee.

“Everyone talks down about the yanks but they wanna be us. It’s a privilege to wear pinstripes. Every year we are in contention. I’m blessed to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end,” Cortes wrote on X.

Needless to say, Cortes does not want to be dealt at the deadline. The Yankees are contenders, but Cortes may not be a pivotal piece in the postseason rotation. Cortes was the opening day starter for the Yankees. The Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Marcus Stroman and Luis Gil to lead the rotation in the postseason.

Cortes has a 3.99 ERA on the season in 21 starts. He has given up 11 earned runs in 8 2/3 in his last two starts. Cortes started just 12 games in 2023 but had a 4.97 ERA.

Yankees Trade Deadline Needs

The Yankees clearly need a bat. The Yankees offense ranks No. 18 in runs in July. They ranked inside the top 10 in April, May and June. DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres could both be replaced at the deadline after extended struggles.

LeMahieu has a .181 batting average in 40 games this season. Torres is hitting .229 this year. However, he is hitting .303 in his last 10 games.

Cashman confirmed to reporters on July 9 that the team will “be open-minded to a lot of different things” ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.

“We definitely have areas to improve upon and we’ll do our best to do so,” Cashman said.

In 2022, the Yankees started 61-23 before playing sub-.500 the rest of the way. Ultimately, they were swept by the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros. This season could shape up to be the same if the Yankees don’t turn things around.

“Thankfully, we got out of the gates really strong, so hopefully that cushion will allow us to work through this, hopefully sooner than later, because it’s gone on long enough,” Cashman said.

In 2022, the Yankees tried to right the ship with the acquisitions of Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas and Harrison Bader. Those additions did not yield the results the Yankees had hoped for, but 2024 could be a different story.