Grading Yankees' Luis Garcia Jr. Trade After One Month

He then went into a bit of a slump to start his tenure, initially just rolling over a few too many times before a rare stretch of higher strikeouts. In all, from August 4-23, he hit just .224 with a .672 OPS across 16 games, prompting some to jump the gun on fully evaluating him.

But since the start of the Astros series on August 24, he's been a whole different person. A blistering hot streak, in which he's gone 13-for-34 with two home runs and two doubles, has restored his numbers to his season average and ultimately made him a tremendous positive for the team in his first month in New York.

He's also been surprisingly stout defensively, improving the Bombers' infield defense by pushing Rice to DH and filling in dutifully as a league-average glove who can make most scoops with decent range. Despite what Boone says and what some think, I don't think the Yankees should try using him elsewhere, given how bad he was at second base in Washington.

Sometimes, even when you're happy with a trade's return, you still might be getting bit by what you gave up. So far, that's not the case for the Yankees, even with their bullpen stretched incredibly thin.

The Nationals gave both Yovanny Cruz and Jake Bird an immediate shot to prove themselves, but both have struggled. Cruz allowed five runs in four innings in high-leverage roles before a mid-August demotion, while Bird is far down in the Nationals' trust tree despite the lack of options, even with his results looking better

The roster fit for García is still a bit clunky, though. His struggles against left-handed pitching kept him out of the lineup more than you'd expect in Washington, and Aaron Boone has resorted to sitting the 26-year-old in some of these matchups, particularly in a big series against Boston, to play Goldschmidt, a move that definitely worked out with the grizzled veteran's two go-ahead hits that series.

The fact that he's going to be used as a platoon first baseman with Goldy might matter a lot in a Wild Card Series matchup against the Sox, where they can deploy scores of lefties. Beyond that, into a potential ALDS matchup with the Rays, he would be much easier to deploy in the middle of the lineup.

The other potential roster kink when he was acquired also seems to have sorted itself out, making this trade even more commendable for the Yankees.

The second setback by Giancarlo Stanton with his calf injuries will likely end his season and, perhaps, his Yankees tenure. When he returned, he was likely going to push somebody to the bench to assume his role as designated hitter, which would've meant one of the team's two best healthy bats (until Judge returns) would have to be sat.

By getting García, the Yankees gave themselves Stanton insurance. If they had never made that trade and the hulking slugger still had that setback, the team would've been stuck with potentially starting Goldschmidt every day.

For all of these reasons, the trade has been a smashing success so far, especially with Stanton's questions for next year and the team likely moving on from the aging Goldschmidt.

Grade: A

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