The Yankees’ two-game losing streak to Tampa Bay has dropped them in the AL East standings and narrowed their lead in the wild-card race, further proof that some improvement is needed before the July 30 trade deadline.
And manager Aaron Judge, who said at last week’s All-Star game that the Yankees were ready to “embrace any help” at the deadline, said again this weekend that he’s open to some shakeups.
“As a player, you want to add some new guys to give the team some energy and boost the morale of the guys,” Judge said.
Judge didn’t go into details, saying, “We have quite a few guys coming back from injuries, which always helps. They were in good shape before they got hurt, so with some of the other little guys we should be OK. That’s a decision the front office will make.”
The Rays have hovered around .500 winning percentage for most of the year, and there were plenty of potential targets all over the field at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
As The Washington Post’s Joel Sherman reported at the time, one of the players the Yankees had their eye on during the offseason was former Mets player Amed Rosario.
Rosario ended up signing with Tampa Bay, and the Yankees eventually acquired Miami’s Jon Berti in a three-team trade with the Rays.
However, Berti has been sidelined with a calf strain and his recovery has been slow recently.
When asked about a possible return to New York, Rosario said he isn’t following trade rumors but would be excited if it happened.
“Why not?” Rosario said. “The Mets [gave] “The Yankees gave me a chance. If anyone says they don’t want to play in New York, that’s not true. Everybody wants to play for the Yankees.”
Rosario joined the Mets as a promising prospect before being dealt to Cleveland in the blockbuster trade for Francisco Lindor.
The 28-year-old Rosario has played second base, third base, shortstop and right field for the Rays this season and said he’s enjoyed the spotlight in New York.
“No,” Rosario said. “It’s a big market, the stadium is always full. I like it. The pressure is good. I love playing in New York.”
The Rays also have several bullpen pitchers that the Yankees could be interested in, as well as versatile players like Brandon Lowe and third baseman Isaac Paredes.
With DJ LeMahieu struggling at third base (he was not in the starting lineup for Sunday’s game and is not guaranteed to play on Monday, per Aaron Boone) and Gleyber Torres struggling all season, the Yankees appear to need at least one upgrade on their infield.
