Yankees Will Have New Top Trade Target if Rangers Struggles Continue

The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers could be trade partners come the deadline if they continue to slide.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob Degrom (48) throws during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Cam Schlittler went toe-to-toe with Jacob deGrom and lived to talk about it. It was a tale of 2022's 220th overall pick duking it out with the 2010's 272nd pick, and outside of minuscule blemishes on the part of deGrom, their pitching duel was as advertised. It was one of a handful of times the New York Yankees went up against the generational deGrom, but it's the rare occasion they had somebody to match him blow-for-blow.

The real shame of it all is that, despite deGrom's otherworldly talent, he's looking at playing for another losing team. The year the Rangers won the World Series, he was on the shelf, and the only other time he found himself playing October baseball, the New York Mets unraveled in the Wild Card round to Trent Grisham's Padres.

New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (39) tags first base ahead of San Diego Padres center fielder Trent Grisham (2) in the seventh inning during game two of the Wild Card series for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Citi Field. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

If the Rangers are looking at a lost season in its infancy, missing the playoffs is a little different this time around. It could potentially be the final year before a lockout, and right now, what the baseball world looks like on the other side of that is still a mystery. Teams with big-money contracts could conceivably shed them, knowing 2027 revenue is uncertain.

It's hard to say how teams will operate come the deadline, but if the Yankees are as good as they look now, taking advantage of a salary dump should be on their radar. If there's a world where they can take advantage of the situation and come away with an arm the caliber of deGrom's, there isn't a better time to do it than now.

A new frontline starter in the mix

The thought of deGrom on the Yankees should be a tantalizing one. They could have an October rotation of Gerrit Cole, deGrom, Max Fried and Schlittler. A quadruplet of aces is something that not even those Los Angeles Dodgers can boast.

Jacob deGrom, Dirty 88mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/pecfcOgIYD

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 29, 2026

On the chance that Cole isn't sharp come October, that would also lessen the burden on him. They could order the rotation as they see fit, and there really wouldn't be a wrong answer.

Right now, deGrom is in the middle-to-back-end portion of that 5-year $185 million he signed in 2023. This season, he is making $38 million, and by the time the deadline rolls around, that will be prorated.

Next season, he'll be making another $37 million, and the year after that, he has a $20 million club option. The risk is paying a 40-year-old pitcher over $50 million at a time when nobody knows how the sport's landscape will look, but even Hal Steinbrenner should consider that Aaron Judge is still hitting at a high level.

There may not be a season next year. The Yankees should do everything they can to set themselves apart from the rest of the league.

Shedding payroll?

A deGrom deal could be one way to do that. The Rangers have given no indication they will move him, and this is all just theoretical, but last winter, Chris Young spoke about shedding payroll. There were already talks between the Yankees and Rangers about Corey Seager, though they didn't go anywhere.

Is shedding payroll something the Rangers do at the deadline, knowing there may not be a season in 2027? So far, it's all up in the air, but it's hard to imagine that, if they're not doing well by the summer, they aren't at least thinking about that again.

Whether the Rangers are sellers at the deadline or not, making deals to fortify this team is something the Yankees should look at either way. Give Judge every chance to get his ring.