Which Trade Candidates Should the Yankees Target?

The scary part with Seager is his injury history. He hasn’t played over 125 games in each of the last four seasons. Though his production is much better than McMahon’s, can the Yankees endure another star player on the injured list for 40% of the season?

What is enticing about a Seager trade is what he’s done in October. Through 78 career postseason games, Seager has slugged 19 homers with an .852 OPS. He wouldn’t be a great defender at third, but another 120 OPS+ player is exactly what the Yankees lineup needs.

While he does have a no-trade clause, a possible trade that could land Seager would start with the Yankees taking around 70% of his remaining deal. That would hopefully absolve them of adding any serious player capital. If the Yankees wanted Texas to pay a good chunk of the remaining deal, then including Ryan Weathers with a top-20 prospect could be a solution.

Is Jacob Wilson a Good Fit?

The Athletics are in a weird spot currently. They have the number-three prospect in baseball, Leo De Vries, a shortstop, with a young core that mashes with the best of them. Their one issue is that they have no starting pitching, while the Yankees have a surplus.

That’s where Jacob Wilson fits in: a young, athletic player who doesn’t strike out. He checks off the boxes the Yankees have been missing for quite a while.

Wilson will be in his second year of a seven-year, $70 million extension in 2027. His first year of this extension saw him take a huge step back offensively from his fantastic rookie campaign. He went from a .311 batting average with a 119 OPS+ to just a .266 average and an 87 OPS+.

The synopsis on Wilson is that, despite his sophomore slump, he won’t strike out and is sharp in the infield. In 2025, he struck out just 39 times in 523 at-bats. This year he struck out 39 times as well, but in only 80 games, as injuries cut his season short and likely affected his performance.

Both seasons saw him remain a contact hitter, though. While he is a shortstop with the A’s, sliding him over to second and having him bolster the bottom of the order will make the Yankees much better overall.

A mix of major-league-ready pitchers such as Elmer Rodriguez, Brendan Beck, and others could be thrown around in a potential deal to get Wilson in New York.

From Yankee Killer to Yankee Solution

The San Francisco Giants are far from competing in the NL West. Buster Posey‘s revival of this team seems to be taking a more grueling path than he hoped.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic reported that the Giants will listen to trades for every player on their team, including their best bat, Rafael Devers.

Devers arguably had his best offensive year. He hit 37 home runs with 98 RBIs and a top-five slugging percentage in the league. His season was cut short by a core muscle injury that had been bothering him for some time, according to manager Tony Vitello. Up to that point, Devers had played in 309 straight games.

Devers is on a 10-year, $315.5 million contract that wouldn’t make him a free agent till 2034. While it’s a ton of money, he’s actually underpaid, if anything. Devers has had three consecutive seasons with a 140 OPS+ or better. Over that span, he’s been a top-10 hitter. Furthermore, Devers has thrived in Yankee Stadium. In 64 games, he’s hit 18 home runs with a 127 wRC+.

The big worry with Devers is his glove. The Giants strictly had Devers as a first baseman or DH, as he hasn’t had a full season at third since 2024. In that year, Devers was a liability at the hot corner. He was just in the sixth percentile on Outs Above Average and the 12th percentile in Fielding Run Value.

It would be a big risk for the Yankees to take on such a contract given his defense, but like Seager, it wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. A deal with Luis Gil and one of the Yankees’ top-10 pitching prospects, with salary relief from San Francisco, could land Devers in the Bronx.

Can the Yankees Finally Get a Leadoff Hitter?

The Miami Marlins won 80 games in 2026 and looked ahead to their rebuild schedule. Their young core couldn’t be more valuable right now. One piece of that core is Otto Lopez, a shortstop who had the best season of his career.

If there’s one thing that has haunted the Yankees, it’s been their inability to have a true leadoff hitter at the helm. A trade for Lopez could change that in an instant. Lopez hit .305 with 34 stolen bases and an OPS near .800. His 191 hits led the league, and his batting average ranked fifth.

Lopez is like Wilson, as he doesn’t strike out. Over the past two seasons, Lopez has had a strikeout rate around 13%. Along with his impressive bat is his glove at short. He was in the 98th percentile of OAA with 14 and the 95th percentile in Fielding Run Value. If the Yankees want to value athleticism, then Lopez is the perfect fit.

Out of all the names listed so far, Lopez would cost the most. He is entering his first arbitration year and is under team control through 2029. A deal for Lopez would consist of giving Miami the likes of Will Warren, a top pitching prospect, Jasson Dominguez, and maybe more.

Finding a Right-Handed Catcher

The most troubling position the Yankees saw this past season was behind the plate. Yankee catchers were flat-out horrific, posting the fourth-worst wRC+ in the league. The failure to add a right-handed match for Austin Wells at the deadline cost them dearly down the stretch.

A call to the San Diego Padres about Luis Campusano should be on the Yankees’ to-do list. The Padres have great catching depth, with Freddy Fermin and their former No. 1 prospect Ethan Salas becoming the future there quickly. The possibility of having a three-man catching group is unlikely, with one of them to get moved for a starter.

Campusano had a breakout year after recording zero hits in 2025. He had the fourth-highest wRC+ among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances. His batting average and on-base percentage were also top-10. Campusano also hit left-handed pitching strongly, hitting .283 with an .812 OPS.

The Padres have essentially lost their entire pitching staff with Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Robbie Ray, Walker Buehler, Casey Mize, and Griffin Canning all hitting free agency. With them also in the Tarik Skubal race, controllable pitching is something the Yankees can offer that many other front offices can’t.