An Early Look at Yankees 2026 Positional Bang for the Buck!

…Mid June Thoughts from Cary Greene

June 20, 2026

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We find ourselves now in mid June, a little more than a month away from MLB’s Trade Deadline, which is a time of year when the GM’s of buying teams generally overpay for solutions they could have fixed in the previous offseason, but for various reasons, they didn’t. Some GM’s, like Brian Cashman, have very strict budgets that team ownership imposes. Others simply didn’t plan well, while still others have rosters that suffered key injuries.

Most MLB teams are in the final phases of “Seeing what they have” in-house as they’ve already called up their prospects or depth pieces for cameo appearances - sometimes prospects force their way into a call up due to underperforming members of a team’s active roster, but most of the time the call-ups are necessary due to injuries.

Regarding this year’s MLB Trade Deadline, most buying teams already have a good idea of the players they’ll be shopping for. MLB’s expanded postseason format has served to increase the number of contending teams in recent years and this has given the Deadline a very robust amount of activity of late. This season’s Trade Deadline will be no different.

Likewise, teams whose GM’s are in a selling mindset, will be looking to do the usual, which is to extort maximum value for relief pitchers. Meanwhile, front line aces and star level position players will also be marked up as high as possible. Selling teams will also be looking to execute salary dumps as well. As usual, Trade Deadline deals are all about two teams matching up - with the buying team looking to fill a need that they believe will help them contend and the trading team hoping to obtain various pieces that will help them become a contender one day.

Over the course of the next month, it’s possible for some teams who are currently contenders to slide out of contention. Some teams who aren’t looking like contenders presently could also heat up and climb into contention. Therefore, for some teams, their results over the next month will serve to define their intentions at the approaching Trade Deadline.

Now let's shift gears for a moment. In the Art of War, the legendary tactician Sun Tsu outlined three core battle scenarios.

1.     Total Victory: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

2.    High Risk: “If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat.”

3.    Certain Defeat: “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. 

New York Yankees fans expect World Series championships and they haven’t had one since 2009 - the championship drought is now 17-years and counting. As of today, the Yankees are playing as well as the best teams in baseball, with a winning percentage very close similar to that of the Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers.

With the Trade Deadline edging closer and closer with every passing day, Brian Cashman hopefully is focused on Sun Tsu’s concept of Total Victory. In order for Cashman to have a successful Trade Deadline, he must first assess the Yankees needs accurately. Last year I introduced perhaps my best baseball concept - when I invented a stat called c-Value (the c stands for Cary by the way).

Here’s how c-Value is calculated. I start with the player’s contract for the particular season in question. Let’s use Jazz Chisholm as an example, because part of the Yankees having a successful Trade Deadline requires them to assess whether or not they want to extend Chisholm, try to trade him, or let him walk in free agency at the end of the season and perhaps extend a Qualifying Offer (QO) to him.  Chisholm’s contract pays him $10.2 million this season.

Next, I subtract FanGraph’s Dollars stat (I refer to this stat as f-Dollars by the way, since it is calculated with FanGraphs version of player WAR) from Chisholm’s 2026 salary. Dollars is a stat that converts f-WAR into a dollar scale that, based on the players performance in a given season, defines how much a player would make (or, be worth) had they been a free agent.

The calculation gives us a player’s c-Value and it serves to answer the bottom line question - was a player’s performance worth the spend? In layman’s terms, c-Value answers the same question for every player on the roster - Was the Juice Worth the Squeeze? In Chisholm’s case, FanGraphs says he’s already worth $14.1 million - so his c-Value is +3.9 million. Players will either have positive or negative c-Values of course and c-Value is a great way for a GM (or even a casual fan) to easily gauge a player’s current worth.

Today we’re taking a mid-June snapshot of where each Yankees player’s c-Value is trending. Doing this allows us to “Know Ourself” as Sun Tsu advocates. Yankees fans can rest assured, the players who are providing the biggest chunks of c-Value should be huge parts of what will hopefully be a Yankees championship push. Meanwhile, using c-Value will also show us which players should be targets for Cashman to upgrade from.

Positionally, Ben Rice has been the unequivocal star of the Yankees so far this season. Rice has generated $21,854,000 worth of c-Value already this year. Cashman deserves huge kudos for bringing back Paul Goldschmidt this offseason, as Goldy has provided the second highest c-Value on the positional side of the roster, presently he sits at +10.5 million. Goldy is also playing +2 OAA defense at first base this season.

Given that the Yankees have a glaring need for offensive production at catcher, a go-for-broke strategy might be start using Rice at catcher on a part time basis, with the goal of reacclimating him to what was once his natural position - so that he could slot in as the starting catcher in the postseason. Protecting Rice from suffering an injury is also a concern the Yankees no doubt presently have, which is why I think the Yankees should use him at catcher on a part-time basis only after the All-Star break.

Would a strategy centered around Sun Tsu’s concepts advocate that the Yankees should make a deadline deal for a right-handed hitting catcher and look to platoon him with Rice? Perhaps it would. Kicking off a “Bang for the Buck” assessment of the Yankees requires any self respecting writer to either lead with a breakdown of the Yankees bullpen or a review of their anemic catching corps.

Let’s be honest (and why wouldn’t we be?) the Yankees catching situation has been a huge Achilles heel this season for a team that is under so much pressure to bring home a World Series championship. It’s clear the Yankees need to trade for some help behind the dish right now and we don’t need the teachings of Sun Tsu to figure this out as it’s about as glaring a team weakness as there could be. While the Yankees catchers have been well above average defensively this season, their offensive production has held the Yankees offense back significantly.

Everyone and their mama wants the Yankees to trade with the Twins for their hard-hitting catcher Ryan Jeffers and I think Sun Tsu’s teachings could be characterized as being in full support of the Yankees doing precisely that. Whether or not the Twins want to cooperate on this front remains to be seen, but Jeffers is an ideal match for what the Yankees offense lacks. Clearly, the Yankees know they need help at catcher and Jeffers checks all the boxes, he really does.

Perhaps the stars are lining up for a Yankees trade for Jeffers, as there actually aren’t very many contending teams presently in need of catching help. Could the Yankees and Twins actually match up for a Jeffers to the Yankees deal at this year’s Deadline? It seems that it would be very possible. Now, on to the Yankees…outfield. We’ll take a look at the Yankees pitching situation in the next installment and trust me, we’ll be required by Sun Tsu to focus very carefully on this, as we all know that pitching wins wars, er, I mean - championships.

While the Yankees extending a qualifying offer to Trent Grisham this past offseason now seems to be somewhat of  a questionable move, considering how high the costs were for some of the other splashier outfielders that were available this past offseason like Kyle Tucker, the Yankees may very well have dodged a bullet by electing to gamble on bringing back Grisham. Prior to injuring his hamstring, Grisham had posted a .981 OPS across 36 at-bats this month, so he appears to have broken out of what StatCast would characterize as a very unlucky slump.

Barring a huge second half, Tucker’s likely going to be worth only a $15 million dollar contract this season and the Dodgers are paying him $33 million. That means Tucker will likely have a c-Value of negative $18 million this season. Not to mention, they’ll pay him $87 million next season and $60 million each for two seasons after that. Tucker likely won’t be worth that kind of massive spend. The Yankees could have done far worse than to extend Grisham. It appears that the Yankees are comfortable with Grisham being a part of their championship plans.

Still, the Yankees outfield is looking very thin right now, with Jasson Dominguez still struggling to play well and with Spencer Jones and his 39.6% K-Rate factoring into the equation, Cashman might need to trade for outfield help at the Deadline. Aaron Judge will hopefully make it back in a reasonable amount of time, but the Yankees might need to feature him at DH in order to protect him - which is another reason using Rice more at catcher makes sense.

This brings us to the sunk cost of Giancarlo Stanton, who so far this season has only been worth $500,000. Stanton won’t be worth anywhere near the $22 million the Yankees are paying him to sit on the DL this season. Given the need to protect Judge when he comes back, if Stanton ever does return, the Yankees will absolutely have to have him play some outfield. Last season, Stanton only played 132-innings in the outfield so it's unlikely that he’ll hold up well if he plays the field a lot in the second half - but the Yankees have little choice but to ask him to do more.

We might be nearing the point where the Yankees are forced to move on from Stanton. There’s a very slim chance that a team desperate for offense might trade for Stanton at this season’s Trade Deadline but his full no-trade clause likely would prohibit dealing him.

Would a philosophy that adheres to  Sun Tsu’s teachings want to keep Stanton around, believing that Stanton has a proven ability to hit in the postseason, or would it want to move on from him - perhaps on the grounds that Stanton is a sunk cost? Given the injury to Judge, this storyline isn’t one we’re currently reading about in the media, but whatever the Yankees elect to do here will certainly become a huge key to the success of their season.

My belief is that the Yankees need more roster flexibility than what Stanton provides them at this stage of his career. Still, there is no denying that when he’s right, Stanton is still among the elite hitters in MLB. My concern with making Stanton part of the postseason plan is that he’s too fragile at this stage of his career to be counted on. Sure, it would be humiliating for Cashman to DFA him and have to suffer the public humiliation of eating the $38 million that the Yankees are still on the hook for based on the remainder of his contract.

Should the Yankees move on from Stanton, they wouldn’t even need to replace him, as Judge could rotate in as the team’s primary DH until he’s back to 100 percent. This would open a much needed roster spot that the Yankees could use creatively. Knowing yourself, as Sun Tsu stresses, would be why the Yankees would want to move on from Stanton. Would you count on a soldier who isn’t likely going to be able to fight when you need him to? I certainly wouldn't. The Yankees should know by now that Stanton can’t be counted on. They could add a player to the roster who could be counted on and this is reason enough to pull the plug, one way or another, on Stanton’s career as a Yankee.

Unfortunately, we Yankees fans need to get real about the team’s chances of trading for needle-moving players at this year’s Trade Deadline. It’s not like the Yankees have a fully stocked, highly desirable farm system – to the contrary, the Yankees farm system is the exact opposite.

Here we are again though, with another Trade Deadline approaching, the team has many key needs, if the goal is to improve the roster enough to truly contend for a championship. It certainly feels like another “good enough” season is in store for Yankees fans, but who knows. Anything can happen I guess. In any case, Cashman and the Yankees need to have the best Trade Deadline they’ve ever had, if the current 17-year championship drought is to be broken.

Realistically, of all the available outfielders who could help the Yankees this season if acquired at the Trade Deadline, Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs is probably the most reasonable-to-trade-for outfielder out there. Suzuki is a good offensive player who plays a mean right field and with Aaron Judge banged up, trading for Suzuki makes a ton of sense. Not only do the Cubs have some organizational outfield depth, but they have a need for pitching help and the Yankees happen to have some surplus in that department. The two teams match up splendidly for a potential trade.

I’m ruling both Byron Buxton and CJ Abrams (a candidate to move to center field or potentially second base), two players who may be available at this year’s Trade Deadline, completely out based on the Yankees not even remotely having the needed prospect capital to trade for either player.

Even though StatCast says Paul Goldschmidt has been exceptionally lucky with his batted balls so far this season, he’s a commodity that this year’s Yankees roster simply can’t live without. So far, he’s been everything the Yankees need and nothing they don’t. His defense has been 2 OAA and he’s been out of his mind good with the bat. Taking the bat out of his hands when Stanton returns would be a mistake that could jeopardize the Yankees season. Goldy needs to play every day, it's really that simple - he’s the right handed slugger that the Yankees lineup needs going forward.

Perhaps the main reason to keep Goldy in the lineup is his .368 OBP which combines with Grisham, Judge and Rice very nicely. Hopefully, the Yankees understand this and they keep relying on Goldy to be an ongoing part of the solution. This thinking is totally in line with the teachings of Sun Tsu as well, so it makes too much sense not to execute on keeping Goldy in the lineup.

Now let’s look at Jazz Chisholm a bit closer. Is it time to give him increased responsibility or might it be time to trade him? Talk about two extremes! On one hand, Chisholm is worth every penny he’s being paid presently and then some, as evidenced by his current $3.9 million c-Value. Jazz is a true two way player, he’s already 5 OAA this year at second base and though he’s still striking out way too much (5th percentile in the League), he’s been a terror on the bases and when he does hit the ball, he can make things happen from time to time.

While Chisholm isn’t having an incredible walk year, meaning he’s not playing his way into a superstar level, extremely robust long term contract in free agency, he is likely to earn a short term deal with an AAV in the neighborhood of between $25 million and $30 million this offseason. It appears Aaron Boone has begun to utilize Chisholm a bit higher in the batting order of late and to his credit, he’s responded by sporting an .827 OPS this month. If ever the Yankees had a tough decision, what to do with Jazz Chisholm and when to do it probably qualifies as what will amount to being the lynch pin to Yankees infield for years to com.

Zeroing in on Sun Tsu’s teachings and what the Yankees know about themselves, Cashman might want to consider moving Chisholm over to third base and in a corresponding move, he could trade for Luis Arraez and install him at the keystone. Arraez’s bat would play very well in the Yankees lineup and any way we slice things, Chisholm represents a big upgrade over you know who, over at third base – we’ll get to him as we move around the horn.

Sitting at the center of it all is Yankees prospect George Lombard Jr, who may soon qualify as the heir apparent to the roster spot that Chisholm presently occupies. Personally, I think the Yankees second baseman of the future is probably Anthony Volpe, given his weak throwing arm. Lombard presently doesn’t look like he’s ready for a call up, as he’s not yet been able to dominate Triple-A pitching. In fact, his .766 OPS at Scranton shows that right now, he is what many scouts have said he is – a potential next level prospect who has some upside due to possessing a bat that has some pop, but whose hit tool is presently too weak to be considered an every day player.

Hopefully, the Yankees are having realistic internal discussions regarding their infield alignment for the playoffs push this season and also, pertaining to the future. Do the Yankees truly know themselves, or, are they fooling themselves when it comes to their infield plans? As mentioned, whatever the Yankees decide to do with Jazz Chisholm will likely serve as the lynch pin to not only this seasons machinations, but to the Yankees future infield plans as well.

There’s really no compelling reason to trade Chisholm at this year’s Deadline, even though he’s on an expiring contract. Plenty of contenders would probably want him though. Likewise, it doesn’t appear that Hal Steinbrenner is in the mood to extend Jazz, now does it? Cashman seems to love to let players test their markets also, so it’s very likely that Chisholm will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and I’m willing to bet that the Yankees will extend him a QO as well. If he were to accept the QO, the Yankees would likely extract some c-Value in 2027 and if he rejects it, at least the Yankees would get a compensatory Draft Pick.

This means that Chisholm is likely part of the Yankees championship plans for this season and really, why would it be otherwise? He’s played well enough to be in the Yankees plans moving forward.

Now for the elephant in the room - what are the Yankees going to do with the shortstop position at this year’s Trade Deadline. Prior to getting injured, Jose Caballero was the second best defensive shortstop in MLB as rated by StatCast which credits him with 5 DRS at the position. He’s an above average corner outfielder defensively also and Aaron Boone has been using him on the corners in order to give Anthony Volpe some playing time at shortstop. Given that the Yankees should know themselves by now, considering it’s already mid-June, isn’t it time to use Volpe more sparingly and have him learn some other positions, like second base and the outfield?

Are the Yankees oblivious to what they had in Caballero at shortstop, or are they utilizing Caby’s versatility in the hope of getting Volpe untracked? Also, will the Yankees trade for a shortstop at the Deadline? All are fair questions to pose. If the Yankees truly knew themselves, they would probably sooner or later plan on restoring Caballero to full time duties at shortstop - unless they prefer to view him as a utility player and not one of the game’s elite defensive shortstops.

It feels like the Yankees are committing  one of Sun Tsu’s major no-no’s here. Is it really worth it to insist on getting Volpe’s 100 wRC+ 2026 bat into the lineup on a nightly basis? Volpe is a league average batter this season, playing him regularly is hardly worth disrupting Caballero’s rhythm at shortstop. Caballero presently has a rather stunning $7.1 million cValue - he’s providing an amazing return based upon the spend. Don’t the Yankees have other things they could focus on here?

Well, actually, the Yankees might have other ideas entirely. One of the names rumored to be potentially available at this year’s Trade Deadline is none other than the Nationals All-Star shortstop C.J. Abrams. Rated in the 96th percentile this season offensively, Abrams and his dead pull approach are nearly perfect for Yankee stadium. The only problem with Abrams is that he’s a butcher at shortstop defensively. Abrams is already -9 OAA at shortstop this season. Do Yankees fans really want to trade all of their top prospects in order to put his bat in the lineup and would they be willing to tolerate his butchery at shortstop? I highly doubt trading for Abrams would please Yankees fans. If the Yankees were to adhere to Sun Tso’s tenants, they would stick with Caballero as their shortstop for the remainder of the season - as they should realize by now what a difference maker Caby is.

Now let’s assess the Yankees two most pressing infield needs - we’ll start with you know who over at third base. Ryan McMahon hasn’t had a good season to date, but he is showing signs that warrant that the Yankees might want to stick with him at third base for a while longer. He’s posted a .736 (at the time of this writing) so far for the month of June. By now, the Yankees know what they have with regard to McMahon. He’s been a few ticks above average defensively this season, and offensively speaking, he’s well below what even an average third baseman profiles as.

Given that the marketplace simply hasn’t delivered a third baseman that would be suitable for the Yankees in quite some time now, Cashman has been forced to make do with whatever solutions Hal Steinbrenner permitted him to put in place. Some here at SSTN wanted the Yankees to sign Alex Bregman this past offseason. While Bregman’s OPS (.693) is better than McMahon’s (.639), he’s hardly worth the massive 5-year $175 million deal the Cubs gave him prior to the season.

There isn’t a deep plethora of available third basemen that are projected to be available at this year’s Trade Deadline, so the Yankees inner circle will have to have a come to Jesus meeting regarding how they want to best man the position for what they hope will be a championship run. Sun Tsu’s teachings warn against fielding an underperforming soldier, so the Yankees brass will need to decide whether or not McMahon can perform the hot corner job well enough for the Yankees to win the war this year.

Personally, I’d welcome a trade for an offensive upgrade, on the condition that the player acquired is at least an average defender. The Giants have a trio of underperforming infielders that the swirling trade winds surrounding this year’s Deadline are wafting into every corner of the baseball universe - Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. They also have Luis Arraez playing out of his mind at second base. Of the four Arraez makes the most sense for the Yankees, given that Chisholm is capable of taking over at third base for the remainder of the season.

Chapman, who is presently a sunk cost the Giants would probably like to pass on to another team, might be a fit with the Yankees, but the six-year, $115 million contract the Giants extended to him this past offseason is likely going to make the idea of the Yankees trading for him a non-starter.

An under the radar name, who can play third base competently, to keep an eye on is Matt Shaw who is currently with the struggling Cubs. Shaw would be somewhat pricey to trade for though. Isaac Paredes of the Astros is another marquee name to keep an eye on, though he may not measure up defensively to what the Yankees are looking for and on top of that, any deals for him would require the trading team to part with a high cost in terms of prospects.

Though they may not be in love with the idea, the Yankees may be yet again forced at this year’s Trade Deadline, to stick with McMahon for the remainder of the season - unless they miraculously execute Sun Tsu’s teachings and move Chisholm to third base, which would open up a much more palatable swim lane to trading for Arraez.