The New York Yankees could kill two birds with one stone in a wild trade with the New York Mets.
The New York Yankees have several problems on their hands.
From injuries to stars and questionable depth to supplement those injuries, things have the potential to go very wrong this season in the Bronx.
The biggest worrying factor for the Yankees however has been widely considered to be the third base position after the team did largely nothing to address it this offseason despite the weakness of what’s currently on the roster.
Another major storyline throughout spring training has been right-handed pitcher Marcus Stroman seemingly being the odd man out in the starting rotation and outright stating he would not pitch out of the bullpen even if he was asked following the team trying to trade him during the winter and get out of his contract.
As for third base aging and oft-injured veteran DJ LeMahieu appears set to get the first shot coming off what was a disastrous campaign where he could not stay on the field and was borderline unplayable when he could.
Other uninspiring options include guys like Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza, so it’s safe to there’s no ideal player on the roster to man the hot corner.
Though New York seems determined to stand pat and at least begin the regular season with what they have, perhaps they could solve both the Stroman issue and the third base issue with one move in a potential trade with their crosstown rival New York Mets.
Though former Mets top prospect Brett Baty has continued to rake in the minor leagues, for whatever reason he has not been able to put it all together and the big league level and has struggled immensely at the plate in his 169 MLB games since 2022.
Baty has demonstrated he has the ability, but perhaps it’s a mental block and a change of scenery could serve him well.
The Yankees’ foe in Queens has also had some extremely bad injury luck thus far to an already thin rotation, losing Frankie Montas for the foreseeable future and now having ace Sean Manaea go down with an injury putting his Opening Day status in doubt as well.
Stroman, who had the best stretch of his career during two seasons with the Mets from 2019-2021, could be a potential help to their issues in the rotation, and Baty could be a possible upgrade from anything the Yankees currently have at third.
The thing which has made Stroman largely untradeable to this point is the $18.5 million he’s owed this season, a number which the Yankees would have to eat a major chunk of in order to move him, especially if they’re getting not just a low level prospect in return such as Baty.
How much the Yankees are willing to pay Stroman in order for him to simply go away is the big question, though things are not moving in a good direction in that situation and clearly both player and team want out.
If the Mets are inclined to dispose of Baty in exchange for a return of Stroman, the two sides could likely come to an agreement on a fair number for a trade which would ultimately benefit them both.
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