11:53am: Jorge Castillo of ESPN reports that the Yanks are more focused on pitching and acquiring Díaz is unlikely, which could perhaps apply to Rengifo as well.
11:49am: The trade deadline is just a few hours away now but teams are still scouring the market for upgrades. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post on X, the Yankees have infielders Yandy Díaz and Luis Rengifo on their radar, as well as relievers Tanner Scott, Pete Fairbanks, Kyle Finnegan and Lucas Erceg. He adds that they could also look to add a starting pitching but might not meet the asking prices.
Some of those guys have already been connected to the Yankees in rumors. The connections with Rengifo, Finnegan and Erceg are new but also in line with their previously-reported pursuits. Even after adding Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the roster, they have seemingly still been looking for more infield help, which Rengifo could certainly help with.
The 27-year-old is in his third straight above-average offensive season. Since the start of the 2022 campaign, he’s hit .272/.323/.433 for a wRC+ of 110. He’s also stolen 35 bases in that time while bouncing to all three outfield spots and three infield positions to the left of first base. He’s not considered a strong defender at any one position but the ability to move all around is certainly attractive.
The Yanks are still trying to figure out their best alignment at the moment. Chisholm’s first game as a Yankee was in center field, where he has been spending most of his time in recent years. But then the Yanks moved him to third base last night, a position he had never played before. Now that Giancarlo Stanton is back and in the designated hitter slot, Aaron Judge moved to center field, flanked by Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. Acquiring another infielder could result in Chisholm moving to second and bumping out Gleyber Torres, or perhaps Verdugo will get nudged out of the outfield mix.
Rengifo is making a modest $4.4MM this year, with roughly $1.5MM left to be paid out. That’s likely attractive to the Yankees as they are slated to be a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and well above the top tier, meaning they will pay a 110% tax on anything they add to the ledger. He can also be retained via arbitration for 2025 and could perhaps slide into next year’s second base job with Torres slated for free agency after the current season. Verdugo is also an impending free agent, so perhaps Chisholm could be in the outfield with Rengifo on the infield. There’s also the looming Soto free agency to consider, though the Yanks are expected to be aggressive in trying to re-sign him. Rengifo has also been connected to clubs such as the Red Sox, Dodgers and Royals in recent weeks.
The extra year of control means that the Angels don’t have to move on from Rengifo but there would be logic in doing so as they haven’t been meaningfully competitive for quite some time. Now that Shohei Ohtani is gone and Mike Trout is having annual trouble staying on the field, the odds of them turning things around between now and the end of 2025 seem long.
Bullpen adds are generally on the radar of all contending teams and the Yanks are surely exploring all options there. Finnegan has been the Nationals’ closer for quite some time but is nearing the end of his window of club control, with one year remaining after this one. The Nats have already traded Hunter Harvey and Lane Thomas, two players that were also controllable through 2025, and Finnegan seems likely to move today as well.
He has a career 3.52 earned run average in 272 appearances. He has struck out 23.9% of batters faced, given out walks at a 9.4% rate and kept the ball on the ground at a 46.8% clip. That includes racking up 28 saves this year with a 3.48 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 40.5% ground ball rate. He’s making $5.1MM this year.
Erceg can still be retained by the Athletics for five seasons beyond this one, but he’s a late bloomer who is now 29 years old despite his limited experience, which could tempt them to sell high. He has a 3.68 ERA this year, 26.3% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 50.5% ground ball rate. The fact that he’s pre-arbitration and therefore making a modest salary is surely appealing to the Yankees but the cost might be high. Even rental relievers are netting big returns at this year’s deadline so getting Erceg might take an uncomfortable haul.
Rengifo wouldn’t make sense unless they trade torreyes. Same with diaz I feel like they probably checked in, before Chisholm Jr.
Diaz is a butcher at 3B. He’d take over 1B and probably cost Rice as well.
Yes…its about time that the Yankees find out whether their minor league kids can actually play at the big league level…..Cashman needs to be held accountable rather than ditching the kids and picking up veterans who either get hurt, underperform, or both…..Cash has got to go with Boone right afterwards…..
Even after Finnegan gave up 5 runs in 0.1 innings pitched, last night? Yikes!
But, but his peripherals……
“But his peripherals”…Yes, because in modern baseball projections, estimates and forecasts have become more important than bottom line results.
Rengifo would solve the Yankees 3rd base problem then jazz could stay in the outfield
It sure is weird seeing #13 at 3rd again… pretty bold to take a-rods number
@sad tormented neglected mariners fan
ARod was an overrated roid user. No point in celebrating cheaters, regardless if you use a needle or drum to win.
Keep Jazz at 3B. He belongs in the infield not CF. Yanks need to go get a real CF.
Everyone is holding out right now. There will be a flurry of moves in the last hour or two this afternoon…
Nobody wants to overpay, and that is what these seller teams with pitchers that have 2 and 3 years of team control know. These seller teams are going to ask for top talent they want in return. What team is going to jump and overpay ala San Diego for Soto deal a couple of years ago. The buyers will have a lot of griping from their fans if they overpay in prospects.
Yankees this, Yankees that. Blah, blah, blah.
Might wanna get your eyes checked homie. There’s been an abundance of non yankee posts lol
Yankees need Tanner Scott, or comparable closer, especially since they whiffed on Estevez.
They need one more bat as well.
Scott is interesting but I’d be okay with a quality set up man and skipping the “proven closer” price point. With Stanton back what type of positional profile do you reckon makes sense for another bat?
I get your point with the setup BP arm and I think that makes sense as well.
I do think a bat would be a huge benefit because Jazz’ & Stanton’s health are unpredictable, while Grisham, DJL, Cabrera, and Rice have inconsistent or downright putrid offense.
But, I’m more confident in this team today than I was the past few years, for sure.
I think a Rengifo acquisition would bode very well for the lineup.
But, I do think a bat is certainly less of a priority than a back end BP arm and another starter.
Generally agree on the weak spots on the offensive side and feel pitching (especially bp) is the greater priority though I think there is a lot to like in rice’s plate approach and the results he’s flashed so far. Grisham at least brings a good glove to the mix and does have some pop but I do see a posdoble upgrade there. Dj looks pretty lost rn and it’s a shame given how much is left on his deal.
I think it’s useful to look at more recent outcomes for some bats to assess need. Wells has been balling out at the plate for a while now but he started so slow it isn’t readily apparent in his season line rn. Gleyber has been hot and back in form these past few weeks and Verdugo and volpe have been showing some encouraging improvement at the plate since the asb.
Finnegan is homer prone…..no thank you. Erceg if the price is right will be a decent add and surely cheaper than Scott or Fairbanks.
I still want offense though! Get Rengifo and put him at 3rd, Jazz at 2B and trade Gleybor for whatever he brings. He’s just not a winning player and last night was a prime example. Easy double play, he double clutches and instead of being out of the inning with no runs, they give up one and have two on for Harper. Could have easily gone from no runs to a four spot for the Phillies and changed the whole complexion of the game. Then he boots an easy one later. DEAL HIM!
Yeah, for them to be truly solid, they need a good closer, one more bat, and a SP. I know that’s highly unlikely, but anything less is going to leave a hole.
I’m assuming Flaherty fell through since there’s been nothing more?
Probably a huge price tag.
We all need to remember that Effross, Hamilton, Brubaker, Burdi and Schmidt are all due back at some point. All would be an upgrade in the pen over some of what’s there now…..but who goes? Gomez can go back to AAA, but the other guys aren’t DFA fodder. Cashman needs a flurry of moves before the deadline.
Hey man…some very sage comments that make lots of sense…..
Ferguson and Hill can both go as long as they add is a lefty reliever.
Gleyber has been hitting really well of late though. I cringed at the dp that wasn’t too, but imo gleyber is far from being the yanks’ biggest liability rn.
Yankees: “Fully stocked soda machine and a few flats of refills for Erceg?”
Forst: “I’m informed we think that’s a great deal”
Yanks: on second thought we’re gonna need anderson, Michaelson, whatever his name is, too.
Yankees would do well with Rengifo
I wanted him more than Jazz. Hopefully they do get him.
Rizzo is doing well rebuilding after some horrible contracts and losing all that talent. Rox and Angels should be taking notes on how to sign and flip rentals for lotto tickets.
I don’t get the more worried about paying another like 2m to acquire Rengifo in CB taxes. Looked at Cots site and they have to be fairly close, showing NYY at 314m, almost 80m over with NYY clearly set in a “win now” mode. Seems like if can get a player, cheap prospect wise they almost have to do it.
It’s not like they are in a NYM situation, CB tax at 350m and almost out of it already, but 110m over the penalty.
The angels need Rengifo to win the 2024 or 2025 World Series, and they will. Washington says you can take it to the bank
Lou Gehrig reincarnated
“The boy who knew to much, by Cathy Byrd.
Great little book.
Mantle came back as trout.
Ruth came back as ohtani.
Reid detmers is Roger Maris