MLB Insider: Yankees Face Tough Trade Market For Biggest Need

While MLB pauses for the All-Star break, there's no rest for the weary as New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman keeps shopping for trade deadline upgrades.

Here's a rundown of the latest news and rumors, starting with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, who was reporting on Fox Sports.

"Third base, ton of speculation about Eugenio Suarez from the Diamondbacks. Yankees aren’t the only team that will be after him," Rosenthal said.

"Starting rotation, they’ve been without Gerrit Cole the whole season. They’re now without Clarke Schmidt for the rest of the season. He, too, is having Tommy John surgery, and they’re also without Luis Gil still, and Ryan Yarbrough," Rosenthal noted.

"So who’s left? Max Fried, who’s pitched a ton of innings. Will Warren, a rookie. They have to address the rotation for sure.

"And then finally, the bullpen, arguably they’re biggest area of deficiency," Rosenthal added. "They’re 21st in the majors in bullpen ERA. Now granted, they’re going to get Fernando Cruz back. They’re going to get Mark Leiter Jr. back. They’ve got Devin Williams of course anchoring the thing. And Luke Weaver.  But the Yankees need at least one reliever, preferably a swing-and-miss guy, and maybe more than that."

So who can the Yankees realistically target on the trade market?

"Relievers will be on the move," Rosenthal observed. "They’re always in demand … and there is going to be a considerable focus on the AL Central. The Guardians, with Emmanuel Clase, and the Twins with Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.

"Now there are some caveats here," Rosenthal warned. "The Twins are only four games back in the wild card race. The Guardians are only four-and-a-half back and they’ve got a relatively easy schedule leading to the deadline. So these teams are still in it. Like a lot of teams, they do not want to concede. At the same time, they may look at this as a buy-sell type situation.

"The other problem though, is that all of those guys I just mentioned, Clase and Duran, they’re under club control beyond this season," Rosenthal said. "Clase is cheap through 2028 if they exercise options. And Jax, Duran are both under control through 2027. So what that means is if they’re traded, they’re going to command an extremely high price  and we’ll see how desperate teams get."

That report aligns with what the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Monday.

"If the Twins fall further, they might listen on star closer Jhoan Duran and setup man Griffin Jax. As a team for sale, finances may be affecting things," Heyman wrote.

Coming out of the All-Star break, only five MLB clubs are 10 or more games out in the wild-card races, meaning Cashman could have to pay a premium to upgrade his roster for the stretch run.

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