Should the Yankees Trade Their Top Prospects at the Deadline?

Should the Yankees Trade Their Top Prospects at the Deadline?

Mid-July thoughts by Cary Greene July 16, 2025

***

With the Deadline rapidly approaching and given Brian Cashman’s recent comments indicating that the Yankees were going to be very aggressive about making improvements, the Yankees front office is no doubt feilding all sorts of calls from GM’s around the league regarding prospects of interest.

It seems as if George Lombard, the Yankees number one prospect and MLB.COM’s number 35 overall prospect is perhaps off limits, but what about some of the other top Yankees prospects, which of them should the Yankees trade in order to make win-now improvements? 

Probably the one player at the top of most teams' positional Yankees prospects of interest lists is Spencer Jones. Should the Yankees trade Spencer Jones to fill a key hole on the roster at the upcoming MLB Trade Deadline and if so -- who should Jones be traded for?

Before jumping to a knee-jerk answer, keep in mind, Jones is trending in a very similar MiB arc as Aaron Judge did. Would it be wise to trade him now and sell high? Imagine if the Yankees had done that with Judge? It would have been one of the most massive blunders in the history of baseball, possibly rivaling the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000 back in 1920! If Brian Cashman trades Spencer Jones, will Cashman go down in baseball history for making one of the worst trades ever, or am I wrong for placing Jones' name in the same sentences as Aaron Judge and Babe Ruth?

We have no way of knowing whether or not Jones will ever reach the level of Aaron Judge, but we can certainly use the past to predict the future and if one compares Aaron Judge’s development to that of Spencer Jones, the two players have very similar Minor League stats.

Aaron Judge career minor league stats, according to The Yankees Report on X:

1,313 AB | .276 AVG | 57 HR | 217 RBI | .842 OPS

Spencer Jones career minor league stats:

1,284 AB | .275 AVG | 59 HR | 202 RBI | .843 OPS.

With this pointed out, if I were Brian Cashman, Spencer Jones would be 100% off limits. There is plenty of time for Jones to cut down on his strikeouts as he works his way to the Big Leagues and let’s face it, Aaron Judge also had to do a ton of work on his swing before he became a modern day Sultan of Swat!

The Yankees have plenty of other attractive trade chips to dangle, but if Cashman is looking to make trades for true difference makers, he’s likely going to have to fend off requests for Jones and or Lombard as both will be at the top of many team’s lists. Positionally, the Yankees system lacks the chips necessary to match up with what many teams who are dangling true win-now difference makers will be looking for.

However, some teams are clearly looking for pitching help more so than positional assets and the Yankees system does have some very enticing young pitchers they could use as trade fodder.

Cam Schlittler will probably be viewed by many inquiring teams as exactly the kind of young arm to build a rotation around yet many Yankees fans don’t want to see Cashman part with Schlittler as he’s viewed as a key depth piece this season - one who seems to also have a very bright future. Then there’s flamethrower Carlos Lagrange who’s burst onto the scene this year and is fresh off 5-innings of no-hit relief work for Hudson Valley a few days ago, Many potential trade partners will certainly be asking for both of these promising prospects.

Besides Schlittler and Lagrange, who collectively represent $17.2 million in MTV according to Baseball Trade Values, the Yankees system also boasts many other pitching prospects like Bryce Cunningham ($9.9 MTV), Ben Hess ($5.4 MTV), Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz ($5.2 MTV), Chase Hampton ($5.2 MTV), Henry Lalane ($4.8 MTV), Brock Selvidge ($4.4 MTV) and a few others who are are all less valuable.

A package of Cunningham and a few less valuable pitching prospects could be sweetened by the Yankees throwing in a high upside prospect like Roderick Arias or an intriguing catching prospect like Rafael Flores and it might be enough to pry a difference maker from a team looking more for pitching prospects and a few lottery tickets. I’m not sure how many teams out there fit this profile, but the A’s, Braves, Nationals and possibly the Cardinals, Pirates and Rockies are the teams that might match up with the Yankees the best on possible Deadline deals.

Last month I did a piece centering on potential trade partners and how the Deadline landscape was looking and I identified the Pirates as being the best match as a potential trade partner with the Yankees. The Pirates will likely make David Bednar and Dennis Santana available and the Yankees should absolutely attempt to match up with the Pirates for either or preferably, both bullpen pieces. This pair is among the least costly relievers to trade for on the market and both are strong fits for the Yankees. A Yankees package of slugging catching prospect Rafael Flores and the dominating young starter Bryce Cunningham would likely get the Pirates' attention.

Since I wrote that article, some teams that weren’t looking like sellers now have some very important decisions to make as the Deadline approaches, thanks to them beginning to wilt in the summer heat. Teams like the Royals, Guardians, Diamondbacks and Orioles are a losing streak away from becoming surefire sellers. Meanwhile, the Braves bottomed out from late June into July, going 7-13 in their last 20 games and they’ve been forced to now adopt a seller's mindset.

There’s been a lot of speculation in the media that the Yankees are interested in the Diamondbacks slugging third baseman Eugenio Suárez or the Rockies glove-first Ryan McMahon as potential fits with the Yankees. Given the Yankees need for more right-handed power, if Suárez were to be made available, trading for him should be the Yankees top positional priority at the Deadline.

Many teams will get clarity in the next few weeks and Yankees fans should keep a close watch on the Diamondbacks and possibly also look out for a sleeper team like the Royals, because if either of these teams continue to fade, they may become sellers. Would the Royals make a key starter like Seth Lugo available? He’d be an ideal fit in the Yankees rotation for sure.

A huge Deadline haul for the Yankees would be:

1.     Swinging a deal with the Pirates for closer David Bednar and the suddenly unhittable bridge reliever, Dennis Santana.

2.    Completing a trade for Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez

3.    Landing a middle of the rotation starter like the Royals Seth Lugo

None of these trades would likely cost the Yankees their top-tier prospects like Lombard, Jones or Schlittler and the Yankees do have the pieces to pull off all of these very realistic trades. Now I’d like to pose a very important question to both our readers here at SSTN and my fellow writers -

Should the Yankees be willing to trade Spencer Jones and also, what players would you like to see the Yankees go after and who would the Yankees need to give up to get them?

***

Image created by ChatGPT