MLB Insider Pegs Yankees’ Top Trade Deadline Targets

According to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, the organization does not plan on standing pat at the Trade Deadline.

Yes, you heard that correctly. The reeling Yankees will be buyers this year in order to hopefully turn their slow start around.

New York has underachieved in almost every area at 35-32, and are currently in third place in the American League East, seven games back of the Tampa Bay Rays.

This is certainly not what Cashman or anyone else had in mind for the Yankees when entering the 2021 season. They were pegged as the favorites to win the AL East, and as World Series contenders.

At the moment, despite winning two games in a row, they don’t even look like a playoff team.

So, what can they do to right the ship?

MLB Insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic has a few names in mind. On Wednesday, Bowden listed a handful of players who the Bronx Bombers can acquire to propel their team into the postseason for the fifth straight season.

While the team is overly dependent on the home run ball in a season where MLB has deadened the baseball, Bowden believes the Yankees should target players who hit for contact at a high rate.

With Aaron Hicks lost for the remainder of the year due to wrist surgery, Bowden’s list includes a trio of center fielders to replace him: Orioles’ Cedric Mullins, Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte and Marlins’ Starling Marte.

The biggest name of all, however, is a pitcher. It's a right-hander that can bolster their rotation as a co-ace to Gerrit Cole. And that’s three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

Could the Yankees Trade For Max Scherzer?

Although Scherzer recently hit the 10-day IL with groin inflammation, the soon-to-be 37-year-old is having another superb campaign. In 13 starts for the Washington Nationals, Scherzer has produced a 5-4 record, 2.21 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 104 strikeouts.

The right-hander has been one of the lone bright spots in a grim season so far for the Nationals, who look like they will be sellers at the deadline as a fourth-place team in the National League East. It makes even more sense for the Nationals to deal Scherzer now, especially since he is set to hit the free agent market this upcoming offseason.

The Yankees must upgrade their outfield given the injury to Hicks, but they also have to do something with their starting rotation, which has fallen on hard times after Corey Kluber went down with a shoulder injury that will likely keep him out until August.

Brian Cashman, the floor is yours. The Yankees haven’t played up to their typical standards through the first 66 games of the season, but there is still time to fix things. It’s up to the GM to bring in the proper reinforcements to get the team back on track.

MORE:

• Brian Cashman Describes Yankees as Deadline Buyers, Stands By Aaron Boone
• Grade 2 Groin Strain Sets Luis Severino Back a Month
• Yankees' Luke Voit Progressing Toward Return From Injured List

Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport). Be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.