Yankees' trade-deadline whirlwind may not be enough to win AL East

It was a busy trade deadline for the New York Yankees, who added Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Austin Slater, José Caballero and Jake Bird (and Wilberson De Pena in rookie ball, if we want to get technical). Having done his part, Brian Cashman, the weary Yankee general manager, can lay his phone down and take a breather without negotiating something.

The Yankees are, without a doubt, a much better team. But this raises an overlooked question: are they good enough?

The Yankees lag the Blue Jays in the AL East by 3.5 games entering Friday. New York doesn’t necessarily need to win the division, as they seem to be bound for the postseason either way. However, they will likely need to face the Jays once they get there, and their 3-7 record against Toronto this season doesn’t bode well for them. How do the Yankees stack up after the deadline?

McMahon has been a marvelous addition since he arrived in the Bronx. Rosario, who will presumably be used in place of McMahon when facing southpaws, can be an impact bat on those occasions. Both Doval and Bednar will be very helpful in lowering the temperature in the Yankees’ bullpen dumpster fire, which owns a 4.19 cumulative ERA entering Friday, before any of the recently traded arms could make their pinstripe debuts. But beyond these four (two of which will be platooned), the others are only marginal improvements. 

*Caballero’s 34 stolen bases are the most in the game this year. His 44 last year were the most in the AL. 

While no one can deny the Yankees’ roster has gotten stronger, Cashman failed to address the rotation, which has been plagued by inconsistent performances and pummeled by injuries. The team has also released Marcus Stroman in hopes that Luis Gil (will return on Sunday) and Ryan Yarbrough (expected to be back in August) can be as productive as they had been before their respective injuries (for Gil, that’s 2024). 

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins wasn’t idle when it came to bolstering the rotation. Atkins was able to land former AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber from the Guardians, among other moves. Bieber is yet to pitch this year while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he is well on his way back, having made four rehab starts. If he can be a productive arm this year, this could easily add to the Yankees’ misery. The fact remains, if the Yankees are going to topple the Blue Jays (in the division, postseason or both), they will need a much higher level of reliability from their questionable rotation.