The Yankees failed to make any additional moves at the 4 pm trade deadline on Friday after acquiring Dustin Ackley from the Mariners on Thursday. After being connected to relievers such as Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman leading up to the deadline, Brian Cashman and company seemed to be unwilling to pay the top prospect price that it would have required to land additional help for the team's playoff push.
Ackley will be in uniform tonight when the Yankees take on the White Sox in Chicago. Garrett Jones was designated for assignment to make room for him on the roster, which makes sense considering that Ackley is expected to play the same positions that Jones played and more. What remains to be seen is whether or not the Yankees will call up some of their internal options to help fix some of the less desirable portions of the roster. Rob Refsnyder could come back to play second base if they decide to go that route, and Luis Severino could be called up to make some starts with Michael Pineda on the disabled list.
With the Yankees' six-game lead in the division, it might be easy to understand why they didn't feel like drastic moves were needed. The team has struggled with Stephen Drew's terrible bat and CC Sabathia's ineffectiveness all season while still remaining in first place. If they think they can use players already in the organization to plug the necessary holes on the roster it makes sense that they wouldn't mortgage the future by trading away Severino, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, or Jorge Mateo to bring in one of the players being shopped around. Time will tell whether or not that decision was smart or ultimately fatal to their hopes of making a deep run in the playoffs.
The Yankees could still potentially make a move or two during the waiver period if anything is out there that catches their eye. Usually that tends to be pretty inconsequential. It seems like any upgrades to the roster will have to come from within, if at all.