Why the Yankees Chose To Stand Pat at the Trade Deadline

NEW YORK — As expected, Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman was actively conversing with other teams across the league on possible trades in the days leading up to the Trade Deadline. 

With a clear need for reinforcements or a veteran presence in the Bombers' pitching staff, and perhaps a bat to supplement a lineup plagued by injuries, Cashman said on Monday that he was in deep discussions with other teams up until the final few minutes ahead of the deadline. 

When the clock struck 4 p.m. and it was time to put the negotiation pencils down, however, no match in a "risky marketplace" had been reached. 

"We were engaged with everybody as you would expect but unfortunately, we were unable to conclude anything," Cashman said. "Whether we got close or not, it doesn’t really matter. It only matters if you find that match and conclude and that didn’t happen."

While the Yankees wound up staying silent in what was a hectic day of deadline deals across the league, the GM isn't regretful of his decision not to make a trade. In his mind, the asking price in New York's pursuit of pitching was simply far too high.

"The price tag associated on it is usually a subtraction of some impactful player that’s currently playing a role or we anticipate to play a very important role for this franchise in the present or the immediate future," he explained. "That was the difficulty of navigating the deadline. The names that were necessary to execute certain things are names we’re going to rely on in the present as well as in the future. And that means the near future."

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Cashman declined to offer up specific names that other teams had asked for in those discussions leading up to Monday's deadline, but the GM joked it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which promising prospects the Yankees elected to hold onto.

Right-hander Deivi Garcia made his Major League debut on Sunday, tossing six scoreless innings against the Mets. He's likely to make his second start of the season against the Orioles later in the week and could earn a spot in the rotation moving this summer at just 22 years old.

Meanwhile, Clarke Schmidt—another right-hander—waits patiently at the Bombers' alternate site. Those two hurlers, the two names atop New York's leaderboard of the organization's best pitching prospects, are part of the reason why Cashman and his staff believe the Yankees have a "formulation of talented starters that are controllable" moving forward. 

"Ultimately the matches and trying to come up with something that we felt was sensible versus something we couldn’t live with," Cashman said, diving into the process of declining offers down to the wire. "I’m very comfortable not doing what was being asked of us but you’ve got to go through those motions."

Another reason the Yankees believed a deadline acquisition wasn't a necessity is the group of injured ballplayers that are poised to rejoin the club in the coming days and weeks. The likes of reliever Zack Britton, catcher Kyle Higashioka and shortstop Gleyber Torres are each "around the corner" from rejoining the club, Cashman said. 

Factor in the eventual returns of sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, in addition to left-hander James Paxton in the rotation, and New York will be back at full capacity in no time. 

"We’re confident we’re going to get guys back," Yankees' manager Aaron Boone said. "When we’re whole, we feel like we have a special group and team that has a chance to do something really special."

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Cashman explained that stars returning from the IL played a role in his deadline-day decisions. After all, as he added, a trade on Monday wouldn't have been for a player of the caliber of someone like Gleyber Torres or Aaron Judge. 

"What I would have been acquiring was just to augment what we currently have with the expectation of those players coming back regardless," he said. "Clearly the goal in mind would have been to add to what we already have but not at the expense of what we’re already relying on. "

Entering Tuesday, the Yankees have lost eight of their last 11 games, still moving on from a recent seven-game losing streak. The club that's presently extending its lead in the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays, have had their way with New York thus far, winning seven of the eight games they've played against one another. 

That said, both Boone and Cashman believe the group that presently resides in the clubhouse on 161st Street has what it takes to bring a championship back to the Bronx. 

"I think everyone in our clubhouse knows what we’re capable of," Boone said. "We look forward to continuing to get some guys back from injury and I think it’s a sign of the confidence that Cash and the front office have in the guys in that room to be able to go out and fulfill something special.

"We feel like we have a group capable of being a championship team. That continues to be our goal especially as we weather through this time that’s been a little difficult for us."

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