Yankees Have an Underrated Trade Chip They Can Flip at the Deadline

The New York Yankees can use their plethora of pitching depth to bolster their roster at the trade deadline.

New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (33) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Pitching is one of the most important commodities in baseball. It's why you see relievers who struggled, like Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, and still have them sign for a combined $51 million. Nobody understands what pitching depth can do for them better than the New York Yankees, and their ability to be 2.5 games up in first place is due to having one of the best starting rotations in baseball, despite not being at full strength.

With the plethora of talent the Yankees have, and with guys coming back, they should look to bolster the roster heading into October any way they can. If there's an opportunity to flip someone like Ryan Yarbrough, they should absolutely do it.

While a Yarbrough return won't bring back a high-impact reliever, there should be an opportunity to get something back. Somewhere out there could be the baseball equivalent of Jose Alvarado, and wouldn't it be funny if it were Josè Alvarado, who has struggled with the Phillies this year.

New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) controls the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) and guard De'aaron Fox (4) during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

If there's one thing the Yankees have done best, it's flipping ancillary roster pieces and developing lesser-known guys into important parts of their roster. Their track record of doing this is impeccable.

Stats are up to date before Wednesday's series finale vs. Chicago

Flipping pieces

Just look at what happened when they traded Mike Tauchman in 2021. They were able to acquire Wandy Peralta from the San Francisco Giants, and, for a few years, he was one of Boone's most dependable arms in the bullpen.

In three years with the Yankees, Peralta pitched to a 2.82 ERA in 153 innings. At that point in Peralta's career, he was a middling reliever with a career ERA of 4.40 in 235.1 IP.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta (58) high fives catcher Kyle Higashioka (66) after defeating the Washington Nationals at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Another instance of this came a year later when they flipped prospect Hoy Park for Clay Holmes. Park was on a hot streak in Triple-A, and the return was Holmes, who ended up being a closer for a few years. While he did falter in that 2024 season, Holmes was unhittable for a few years.

Holmes spent four years with the Yankees. He posted a 2.69 ERA over 217.2 IP and turned his time with the Yankees into a lucrative deal with the New York Mets. However, it all began with the Yankees plucking him from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While Tauchman and Park were position players and Yarbrough is a starter/long relief hybrid, the point still stands. There is probably some team out there on the cusp of a Wild Card berth in desperate need of innings, and Yarbrough could be intriguing to them.

Yarbrough in 2026

Yarbrough has a commendable 3.08 ERA in 26.1 IP this season, but his peripheral numbers are intriguing. He's actually elite in a few categories.

Yarbrough has a 95th-percentile .247 xERA and a 91st-percentile .195 xBA. Yarbrough is also elite at holding hitters to soft contact. He has a 99th percentile 82.8 average exit velocity, a 97th percentile 2.7% barrel rate, and a 100th percentile 20% hard hit rate, per Baseball Savant.

Yarbrough could bring back a reliever and bolster their bullpen depth. They might even be able to flip him for another team's catcher - hopefully of the right-handed variety. While it may be for a backup, anything could be an upgrade from what they have seen from the trio of Austin Wells, Ali Sanchez, and J.C. Escarra.

The thing about Yarbrough is that, at some point, when Ryan Weathers and Carlos Lagrange head to the bullpen, he and Paul Blackburn won't have a place on the team. It seems unlikely that they'll have four long-relief options.

Yarbrough showed his value in Monday's game against the White Sox, too. After Gerrit Cole gave six strong innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts, the crafty lefty closed out the game from there, garnering his second save of the season. He's an underrated arm in the league, and some team out there could pounce on him.