About The Off-Day: Finding A Direction

Tim Kabel
5 hours ago
9 min read

About The Off-Day: Finding A Direction

By Tim Kabel

July 24, 2026

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As you read this, there are 10 days left before the trade deadline in the Major Leagues. There are 9,854 rumors involving the Yankees. This happens every year. This year is a little different. Aaron Judge is on the IL with no timetable for his return. There isn't even a timetable for him to begin the process of returning. There is barely a timetable for him to begin thinking about the process of returning. There are sixty games left in the 2026 season.

Right now, the Yankees are in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the season doesn't end right now, and the Yankees have an incredibly tough ten-game road trip beginning today. In addition, the Yankees are a below .500 team since June 1st. Also, the Red Sox are hotter than a bowl of five-alarm chili being served at noon in Arizona in the middle of July.

I don't know how realistic it is for the Yankees or their fans to count on Aaron Judge this season. I especially don't think it's realistic to count on him being the savior for the season. That would be unrealistic and unfair to Judge. In addition, Giancarlo Stanton has been on the IL for most of the season. Aaron Boone recently said that he expects him back relatively soon. What does that even mean? Aaron Boone has mastered one thing. He has mastered the art of babbling incoherently in gibberish. He also has an extremely loose alliance with the truth. To put it kindly, he's a bit of a fibber. Essentially, I would count on Giancarlo Stanton for the remainder of this season even less than I would count on Aaron Judge.

So, the Yankees have some decisions to make. What will they do? Do they throw away all their prospects on veterans who are about to be free agents to make a final push toward the playoffs? Do they send away some of their own players on expiring contracts? I think the answer is the same as when my wife asks me if I want cake or ice cream for dessert. Both.

I don't think Brian Cashman needs to make any more of those analytics driven trades for players who seem on some level to be the perfect fit for certain scenarios. Austin Slater was brought in to mash left-handed pitching last year. He mashed a potato once for lunch and hurt himself doing it. Slater did nothing and wasn't even on the playoff roster. Ryan Weathers has not been very good and he cost the Yankees four prospects. A few years ago, Frankie Montas cost the Yankees several prospects. I know some people may say that none of the prospects involved panned out very well. That's not really the point. The point is that if you spend the prospects on players like Montas and Weathers, you don't have them to spend on someone who is actually good.

Here is my proposal. It has several steps to it.

First, the Yankees need to upgrade severely at catcher. I don't think they should trade for Ryan Jeffers of the Twins. He will be a free agent at the end of the season and if the Yankees don't re-sign him, they will have only addressed the catching issue for about 50 days. It will remain an issue going into next season.

Another rumor links the Yankees to Hunter Goodman of the Colorado Rockies. The Yankees have made multiple trades with the Rockies lately and if they can swing this one, they should do it. I could see Brian Cashman trading for John Goodman and telling the fans it's pretty much the same thing. It's not. Hunter Goodman is a tremendous player who has multiple years of team control remaining. He is also a right-handed batter and unlike Austin Wells, he can actually hit. Obviously, Goodman would cost a great deal in prospects. It is believed that a big part of the package would be Spencer Jones or possibly Jasson Dominguez. Jones has more years of team control. I have been opposed to the idea of training either Dominguez or Jones but in this instance, I would trade Jones. He is currently blocked at the Major League level and Goodman fills many needs for the Yankees. Obviously, the Yankees would need to include other prospects or Major League ready players. They should do whatever it takes.

Another rumor for the Yankees is that they will acquire Mason Miller, the outstanding closer for the San Diego Padres. The Padres are rumored to want Major League ready starting pitchers. The Yankees have two possibilities there. They could send the Padres Ryan Weathers or Will Warren. I don't know if the Padres would want Weathers. If they did, that would be fine. I suspect the reason that Spencer Jones was the 27th man in the doubleheader against the Pirates and Will Warren was used in a relief role was to showcase them for potential trades.

The Yankees starting rotation looks to be fairly solid right now. Carlos Rodon is working his way toward a return to the rotation. That would give the Yankees a rotation of Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and someone else. Right now, that someone else would be either Will Warren or Ryan Weathers. If the Yankees included one of them in a trade for Mason Miller, that would leave the other one in the rotation. Clarke Schmidt is also on the horizon. He could fit in either the bullpen or the starting rotation. In a worst-case scenario, if the Yankees traded both Weathers and Warren, Paul Blackburn or Ryan Yarbrough could fill a spot in the rotation until Schmidt was ready. The Yankees also have the option of bringing Elmer Rodriguez back up unless he is included in a trade.

The third player I think the Yankees should acquire in a trade is Luis Arraez of the Giants. He is currently batting .320. He has won multiple batting titles and his defense at second base has improved markedly this season. He has made it clear that he doesn't want to switch positions if he goes to another team. Considering that he has moved a few times in his career, I don't think that's unreasonable. He will be a free agent at the end of the season, but he is only 29 years old. Since 2022 he has played for four teams. I don't think he would cost the Yankees very much in prospects. If they do acquire him, he could fill the need as a leadoff hitter who gets on base. I think the Yankees should trade for him and then sign him to a three-year contract.

I named the three players I think the Yankees should target. If they can find a relief pitcher as well, who is not of the caliber of Camilo Doval or Jake Bird, they could look into that as well. Assuming the Yankees made those trades, who would leave and what would the team look like?

If the Yankees acquire Hunter Goodman, Austin Wells should not be retained as the backup. I think that has the potential of creating a rift in the team, and particularly on the pitching staff. Wells should be included in one of the above trades or a different trade. J C Escarra could be the left-handed hitting back up to Goodman.

If the Yankees bring in Luisa Arraez, I agree with Dr. Semendinger. I don't think Jazz Chisholm, junior should be switched to another position. He won't be on the Yankees next season and if he is not the second baseman, he will become disgruntled. He is enough of a headache as is. You don't want a disgruntled Jazz Chisolm on the roster. Trade him to bring back a few prospects to make up for the ones you will need to send out to acquire Goodman and Mason Miller.

Let's look at the shortstop position. Right now, it is something of a mess. So is third base for that matter. Jose Caballero despite his theatrics, is a solid player. He is not spectacular. He is not an All-Star. He is also not the long-term answer at shortstop for the Yankees. However, he is a spark plug and a proven base stealer. He is also better than Anthony Volpe. Anthony Volpe really serves no purpose on this roster. If he is not the starting shortstop, he has no value. He is a backup who can only play one position. As far as being a pinch runner, his base running stills have regressed terribly. I think he needs a fresh start. He also needs to be moved out to clear space. Keeping him on the roster is pointless and keeping him as a member of the organization doesn't make much sense. In addition to Jose Caballero who is nominally the starting shortstop right now, the Yankees have George Lombard, Junior in Scranton. He just returned from a month-long stint on the IL. It does not appear to have affected him adversely. On Wednesday, Lombard had his fourth consecutive multi-hit game since returning from the IL. He has gone 9-17 with a home run and three doubles since returning a week ago. He is also an excellent fielder at shortstop. It is time for the Yankees to say goodbye to Anthony Volpe. It is also time to promote George Lombard.. It is unclear if Aaron Judge will return this season or if the Yankees will be able to make the playoffs, and if they do how far they will advance. They should use that time to give Lombard experience at the Major League level and have him fully ready for next season.

The question then becomes what to do with Jose Caballero. He remains under the Yankees control for a few more seasons. For now, he could shift to third base as either a platoon partner for Ryan McMahon or as the everyday third baseman and McMahon could be sent to another team. We hear every day how McMahon is really close to doing something offensively. He is currently batting.214 with nine home runs and 26 RBI. Caballero is batting .244 with ten home runs and 37 RBI plus Caballero has 23 stolen bases. McMahon has 3. McMahon is 31 years old. He's not going to improve. The Yankee should send him to another team for whatever they can get. If Caballero is the full-time third baseman, Oswaldo Cabrera could come back up and be the utility player.

The question then becomes what to do with David Bednar and Trent Grisham. If the Yankees collapse on this 10-game road trip, it might not make sense to keep either of those players for the remainder of this season if they will not be re-signed during the off season. If the Yankees acquire Mason Miller, Bednar will become a set-up man. He may not want to do that. He might be willing to do it for the rest of this season but not beyond. Perhaps the Yankees could trade him to a contender for some prospects. Since Miller would be basically taking over Bednar’s role, the other members of the Yankees bullpen could continue doing what they are doing. In addition, they may have some minor leaguers who are ready to contribute on the Major League level.

Another option might be to bring back old friend Luke Weaver who would be available from the Mets. Again, I don't think he would cost much in prospects.

Trent Grisham presents a more complicated situation. If the Yankees trade Spencer Jones, which I believe they will, they don't have a Major League ready replacement unless they shift Cody Bellinger to center field and use Max Schuemann or Amed Rosario in left field. If the Yankees do trade Jones, they could promote #19 ranked prospect Jace Avina to AAA to continue his development. Unless the Yankees plan to sign Grisham to a longer-term contract, if they begin to fade during this road trip, (remember they have played below .500 since June 1st,) it might make sense to send Grisham to a legitimate playoff contender and restock the farm system.

To summarize, I believe the Yankees should go after Hunter Goodman, Mason Miller, and Luis Arraez. In addition, if they could pick up Luke Weaver from the Mets, that would be a good idea.

To acquire these players, the Yankees would need to give up, either in direct trades or other ones, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Volpe, Will Warren or Ryan Weathers, Spencer Jones, David Bednar, and Trent Grisham.

What would the reconstructed Yankees look like? Going around the diamond, it would look like this:

C- Hunter Goodman

1B- Ben Rice/ Paul Goldschmidt

2B- Luis Arraez

3B- Jose Caballero

SS- George Lombard, Jr.

LF- Amed Rosario/ Max Schuemann

CF- Cody Bellinger

RF- Jasson Dominguez

DH- Ben Rice/ Paul Goldschmidt

Starting Rotation: Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Ryan Weathers/Will Warren/Elmer Rodriguez

Bullpen: Mason Miller, Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick, Tim Hill, Angel Chivilli, Paul Blackburn, Ryan Yarbrough/ Clarke Schmidt