Mar 29, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) pitches in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Yankees Could Bring Back All-Star Pitcher

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Jack Markowski | Last updated Jul 29, 2025 7:00 AM ET

As the New York Yankees look to fill out their starting rotation ahead of the July 31 deadline, perhaps they could reunite with a former All-Star of theirs who's become a hot trade candidate of late.

The Milwaukee Brewers have surged up the standings over the past month and are tied for the best record in the National League at 62-43, but recent reports have suggested that they're open to dealing left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. over the next few days.

With that in mind, the New York Post's Jon Heyman believes that the Yankees could potentially look into bringing the 30-year-old back to the Bronx.

Nestor Cortes is a trade candidate with the amazing Brewers actually having a starter surplus. Might the Yankees bring him back?
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 28, 2025

Milwaukee has an exceptional amount of pitching depth while its starters own the second-best ERA in the league at 3.33, thus making Cortes expendable.

A 36th-round pick in 2013, Cortes has had three separate stints with the Yankees. He first departed the organization in December 2017 after the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 Draft, though they would return the southpaw to New York after designating him for assignment in April 2018.

The Yankees later dealt Cortes to the Seattle Mariners in November 2019, though he'd find his way back to New York in December 2020 on a minor league contract.

Cortes remained a stalwart in the Yankees' rotation from 2021 to 2024, earning an All-Star nod in 2022 and posting a 3.33 ERA across 93 outings (84 starts) during that stretch.

He gave up a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of the World Series last fall and subsequently left the Yankees by way of a trade that sent Devin Williams the other way in December.

Cortes gave up eight earned runs to New York in his first start of the season and completed just one more outing before landing on the injured list with an elbow injury on April 6.

He has yet to make his way back to the majors, though he completed what was expected to be the final outing of his rehab assignment on Thursday.

As a result, the Brewers will have to make a decision on Cortes in the immediate future. There's a world in which they hold onto him, but a trade has become an increasingly likely outcome.

Just about every contender could use veteran pitching help at this point in the season, thus making Cortes a hot commodity despite his injury status. He's proven to be a mid-rotation starter when healthy, and with the Yankees in need of another established arm, perhaps they'll hammer out another deal with Milwaukee and reunite with him.

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