Yankees 2024 Trade Deadline Postmortem
It seems fair to call this a “postmortem” because in many ways it feels like the moves the front office made fell far short of expectations. Additionally, the front office feels “dead”, for lack of a better word.
The two big names the Yankees were tied to did not get traded to the Yankees for one reason or another. I understand why the Yankees did not chase Jack Flaherty. The injury concerns are just, and especially so, considering the issues plaguing the organization. While unavoidable, if Clarke Schmidt had stayed healthy and kept throwing at the rate he was, would the Yankees have chased more pitching? You could also ask the same if the bullpen performed better as a whole.
That said, let’s review the moves the Yankees made this week.
July 27, Trade: UTIL Jazz Chisholm Jr. for C Agustin Ramirez, INF Jared Serna & Abrahan Ramirez (Miami)
For those of us that follow prospects closely, this move hurt the most. Agustin Ramirez was having a strong year in the Minors, hitting a combined 90-for-335 (.269) with 69 runs batted in. Ramirez’s power turned heads this season while with AA Somerset, where he hit 16 homers out of his 66 hits, nearly ¼ of the times he made contact.
If there’s a positive story out of this, it’s that Jared Serna was instantly promoted to Double-A (Pensacola), something the Yankees were incredibly hesitant in doing for whatever reason. Serna batted 86-for 340 (.253) with 58 RBI while with High-A Hudson Valley. Serna also hit a surprising 13 home runs.
Abrahan Ramirez wasn’t as well known as the other two considering he spent all of 2024 to date in rookie league FCL, but as far as pure stats go, Ramirez had the best numbers of the three traded. Ramirez had a slash of .348/.447/.513/.960 in 49 games (158 AB) with the FCL Yankees and drove in 24 runs with only 2 homers. Ramirez is much more of a doubles hitter than anything else and has a profile like that of Anthony Volpe in that regard when Volpe was in the lower levels.
Acquiring Jazz Chisholm Jr., or even the rumors that that may happen, was incredibly divisive among Yankees fans because of what appeared to be a self-centered attitude. Those expectations seem to have been quelled after 4 games with the Yankees where the career .250 hitter made history by hitting 4 home runs in the first 3 games with the Yankees. Chisholm has played 3 games at 3B, the first time in his career, and 1 game in CF. The utility that Chisholm can provide may prove to be huge in the coming years with the Yankees because he can play 2B, SS, 3B and CF.
Considering they traded away Ben Cowles to the Cubs, there’s no standout 2B prospect in the Yankees’ system in the if/when situation they let Gleyber Torres walk next year. Oswald Peraza would be the natural pick considering he’s already on the 40-man, but he has 33 games of career experience at the position, and his fielding percentage there is poor at .942. If he’s ready next season, Caleb Durbin would be my pick, given that he has 132 games at 2B, and has a .990 fielding percentage.
July 28, DFA: INF J.D. Davis designated for assignment
After another “Arson Judge” type tweet by NY Post reporter Jon Heyman where he tweeted “JD Davis to Rays” (and quickly deleted it), what had really happened was that Davis was designated for assignment to open a space for Chisholm.
Davis earned the ire of many Yankees fans after struggling with a yikes-worthy wRC+ of 20 while in the pinstripes. Davis only played in 7 games while with the Yankees, but also only recorded 2 hits in 19 at-bats, with a single, double, and an RBI.
July 29, DFA: OF Jahmai Jones designated for assignment
Jones played significantly more than Davis did at 33 games, and all things considered, wasn’t as terrible as the Yankees fan base made him out to be. Jones slashed .238/.304/.381/.685 and recorded a wRC+ of 97.
For what it’s worth, that’s better stats than what fellow outfielder Trent Grisham is putting up this year (.186/.297/.364/.661; 89 wRC+), although Grisham has played in nearly double the games and is a Gold Glove.
July 30, Trade: LHP Caleb Ferguson to Houston for RHP Kelly Austin and IFA pool money
This, to me (and this is the only opinion you’ll see here), was the best move the Yankees made all week, possibly better than that of Chisholm, Jr. primarily because Austin has solid numbers with High-A Asheville (2.70 ERA, 26.2 IP, 32 K, 1.09 WHIP) and the Yankees have been consistently good of late with signing good IFA talent in the Caribbean.
It can be fair to say that it may be hard to tell how well a prospect will perform just by going off stats in the A levels. Austin has thrown a 0.90 ERA in 10 IP with Low-A Asheville, and a 2.70 ERA in 23-2/3 IP with High-A Fayetteville. Austin has an opposing batting average of about .200, an excellent K/9 of 10+, and has nearly even splits of ground balls to fly balls.
July 30, Trade: RHP Mark Leiter, Jr. for INF Ben Cowles and RHP Jack Neely (CHC)
“They traded who for that guy?!”, said a text message sent to fellow prospect hugger, Carlos, as I was waiting for a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday.
It was obvious the Yankees didn’t value what Jack Neely was doing this year as a reliever (and one they could have most definitely used in the Bronx), and if we’re honest, Ben Cowles has been a bit of a surprise this season. Going with a seasoned reliever where the Yankees knew what to expect instead of taking a chance on a RHRP they already had in the organization seems to be what they were going for here. Age can be a concern here; Leiter Jr. is nearly 9 years older than Neely, but they knew what to expect when they made the deal.
While Cowles wasn’t the flashy prospect like 2022 classmate Spencer Jones has/hasn’t been (that’s for another discussion), his stats are strong this season and speak to how you’ll never know what kind of performance you’ll get out of prospects. Cowles slashed .294/.376/.472/.848 in 88 games with Double-A Somerset, while maintaining a wRC+ of 140. A significant reason that the Yankees got rid of both Cowles and Neely was that they were both Rule 5 eligible in December, and it was fortuitous to get something now than lose them for nothing in December. That was a common theme among all the prospects the Yankees traded.
Jack Neely has really garnered attention for how he had been performing in Double-A Somerset and had recently been promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His fastball/slider combo helped net him a 2.61 ERA in AA and 3.38 in AAA, with Neely throwing an incredible 14.81 K/9 in the 31 innings he pitched with Somerset. It seems apparent now that the Yankees were likely trying to expose Neely to scouts with the promotion to SWB.
While the Yankees have already used Leiter Jr. in 2 games, he recorded a 4.21 IP in 36-1/3 innings of relief with the Cubs this season, while also netting a K/9 of 13.13 and a BB/9 of 3.22. Those last two are good stats, but the ERA is a bit of a concern. For comparison, Holmes has a K/9 of 9.07, a BB/9 of 2.42 and an ERA of 2.82 through 44-2/3 this season. The Yankees closer has received complaints from the Yankees’ fan base, but his stats are good of late.
July 30, Trade: RHP Enyel De Los Santos and Thomas Balboni, Jr. for OF Brandon Lockridge (SDP)
Despite the fact that I probably hold Lockridge in a higher regard than the Yankees ever did, this seems to have been a solid return for an outfield prospect the Yankees had no room for. Hopefully Lockridge gets a shot to play the outfield in San Diego.
Thomas Balboni was the biggest part of the deal that caught my attention, as he has a truly insane 15.71 K/9 despite a somewhat elevated 5.24 BB/9 and an ERA of 4.46 through 34-1/3 innings with Low-A Lake Elsinore. He was originally sent to Low-A Tampa, but ultimately ended up at High-A Hudson Valley. He joins fellow Northeastern alums Sebastian Keane and Cam Schlittler, all three pitchers also a 2022 draft pick, in Hudson Valley.
Getting Enyel De Los Santos was a bit of a head scratcher. De Los Santos is a long reliever, and while he may be used in bullpen games given he can give the team needed length, he will likely be used to platoon with Luis Gil soon with Gil hitting an innings limit. De Los Santos had decent numbers with San Diego this year, throwing a 4.46 ERA in 40-1/3 innings pitched with a 10.71 K/9 and a 2.90 BB/9. If there’s a concern with De Los Santos, it’s that about half of balls in play are fly balls (51.4%), so he would have to lean on the outfield to get outs. In that respect, the Yankees have one of the best, if not the best, outfield in the Majors with Grisham, Judge, Soto, and Verdugo.
What didn’t happen
The Yankees were tied to (then Tigers) RHSP Jack Flaherty along with Rays INF Yandy Diaz and RHRP Pete Fairbanks leading up to the deadline. None of those rumored deals happened, with the Yankees deciding that Flaherty’s past injuries not a risk they wanted to take, per Ken Rosenthal. Cuban baseball reporter Francys Romero tweeted about an hour prior to the deadline that the Yankees were “making a final push for Yandy Diaz” along with the Astros.
The Yankees also didn’t deal Nestor Cortes, Gleyber Torres or Alex Verdugo as had also been rumored to happen.
Brian Cashman reiterated his confidence with various aspects of the team between speaking to media on Tuesday evening and while on the Michael Kay Show on Wednesday afternoon. He also acknowledged that “this particular pen group is less swing and miss than what we’re used to”, adding that he was trying to bolster it more than anything with Leiter and De Los Santos.
At the end of the day, the Yankees did get relievers to help the bullpen out, and they added a bat with pop and a versatile glove in Chisholm Jr. Was it the flashy trade deadline fans wanted? Not at all, but a lot of it makes sense, given the Yankees traded away talent that was all Rule 5 eligible currently or will be in December, so getting some kind of return, even if not the best players that were rumored to be available.