The commerce deadline is only a few hours away now however groups are nonetheless scouring the marketplace for upgrades. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Publish on X, the Yankees have infielders Yandy Díaz and Luis Rengifo on their radar, in addition to relievers Tanner Scott, Pete Fairbanks, Kyle Finnegan and Lucas Erceg. He provides that they might additionally look so as to add a beginning pitching however won’t meet the asking costs.
A few of these guys have already been related to the Yankees in rumors. The connections with Rengifo, Finnegan and Erceg are new but additionally consistent with their previously-reported pursuits. Even after including Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the roster, they’ve seemingly nonetheless been in search of extra infield assist, which Rengifo might actually assist with.
The 27-year-old is in his third straight above-average offensive season. Because the begin of the 2022 marketing campaign, he’s hit .272/.323/.433 for a wRC+ of 110. He’s additionally stolen 35 bases in that point whereas bouncing to all three outfield spots and three infield positions to the left of first base. He’s not thought of a robust defender at anyone place however the capacity to maneuver throughout is actually engaging.
The Yanks are nonetheless making an attempt to determine their finest alignment in the meanwhile. Chisholm’s first recreation as a Yankee was in heart subject, the place he has been spending most of his time lately. However then the Yanks moved him to 3rd base final night time, a place he had by no means performed earlier than. Now that Giancarlo Stanton is again and within the designated hitter slot, Aaron Decide moved to heart subject, flanked by Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. Buying one other infielder might lead to Chisholm shifting to second and bumping out Gleyber Torres, or maybe Verdugo will get nudged out of the outfield combine.
Rengifo is making a modest $4.4MM this 12 months, with roughly $1.5MM left to be paid out. That’s seemingly engaging to the Yankees as they’re slated to be a third-time payor of the aggressive stability tax and nicely above the highest tier, that means they are going to pay a 110% tax on something they add to the ledger. He may also be retained through arbitration for 2025 and will maybe slide into subsequent 12 months’s second base job with Torres slated at no cost company after the present season. Verdugo can be an impending free agent, so maybe Chisholm may very well be within the outfield with Rengifo on the infield. There’s additionally the looming Soto free company to contemplate, although the Yanks are anticipated to be aggressive in making an attempt to re-sign him.
The additional 12 months of management implies that the Angels don’t have to maneuver on from Rengifo however there could be logic in doing in order they haven’t been meaningfully aggressive for fairly a while. Now that Shohei Ohtani is gone and Mike Trout is having annual bother staying on the sector, the percentages of them turning issues round between now and the top of 2025 appear lengthy.
Bullpen provides are typically on the radar of all contending groups and the Yanks are absolutely exploring all choices there. Finnegan has been the Nationals’ nearer for fairly a while however is nearing the top of his window of membership management, with one 12 months remaining after this one. The Nats have already traded Hunter Harvey and Lane Thomas, two gamers that had been additionally controllable by way of 2025, and Finnegan appears prone to transfer right this moment as nicely.
He has a profession 3.52 earned run common in 272 appearances. He has struck out 23.9% of batters confronted, given out walks at a 9.4% charge and saved the ball on the bottom at a 46.8% clip. That features racking up 28 saves this 12 months with a 3.48 ERA, 24.6% strikeout charge, 7.8% stroll charge and 40.5% floor ball charge. He’s making $5.1MM this 12 months.
Erceg can nonetheless be retained by the Athletics for 5 seasons past this one, however he’s a late bloomer who’s now 29 years previous regardless of his restricted expertise, which might tempt them to promote excessive. He has a 3.68 ERA this 12 months, 26.3% strikeout charge, 8.3% stroll charge and 50.5% floor ball charge. The truth that he’s pre-arbitration and due to this fact making a modest wage is unquestionably interesting to the Yankees however the associated fee is perhaps excessive. Even rental relievers are netting large returns at this 12 months’s deadline so getting Erceg may take an uncomfortable haul.