The Yankees entered play on Monday stuck in last place in the American League East in the midst of a trying season. Yet the team remained a mere 3.5 games behind the division rival Blue Jays in the fight for the final AL wild-card spot, by no means out of contention to be playing meaningful baseball in October.
But despite that outlook, New York could enter Tuesday’s trade deadline in the unfamiliar position as sellers—well, sort of.
Though he stopped just short of using that term, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Monday that the front office has informed other clubs that are interested in trading away major-league players who are set to become free agents this winter. That’s a group that includes Harrison Bader, Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Wandy Peralta and Luis Severino.
Sherman noted that trimming payroll was a priority for team chairman Hal Steinbrenner, and that the front office is not ruling out adding players that could help spur a playoff push this season. The Yankees’ projected 2023 payroll is $297 million, just north of the luxury tax threshold of $293 million.
The Yankees can point to June 3 as the date their season began to wobble, as that was the day reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge injured his toe crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium. The team went 19-23 in his absence, with Judge returning to the lineup on Friday against the Orioles.
