clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Yankees 2022 Trade Deadline: Community Poll

Brian Cashman may not have acquired Juan Soto or Shohei Ohtani, but he did bring in a trio of arms on Monday afternoon. And then he traded one away

By John Griffin
/ new
Houston Astros v Oakland Athletics Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

When the Yankees traded for Andrew Benintendi last week, the general consensus among Yankees fans was, “Great. Now go get a pitcher, Brian.” And then, the Seattle Mariners sent a large package of prospects to the Cincinnati Reds to acquire the best starting pitcher on the market, Luis Castillo.

The thing about the trade market, however, is that it just takes one major trade to go down before the dominos start to fall. And a little before 1:00 pm ET on Monday afternoon, Jack Curry dropped his first bombshell of the afternoon by announcing that the Yankees had acquired reliever Scott Effross.

It’s rare to find a player that receives universal praise in the comment section after the Yankees acquired him. And yet, a 28-year-old rookie reliever did just that.

Of course, having an eminently meme-able name sure helps ingratiate yourself with our pun-loving comment section.

And, of course, at least one fan noticed what could be a significant pattern in how Brian Cashman has been building the bullpen over the last year or so.

(In case you’re reading this, Hal, please hand Aaron Judge a blank check, thanks).

Of course, Pinstripe Alley readers being who they are, the conversation quickly turned to the market for starting pitching, particularly as rumors began to swirl that the Oakland Athletics were honing in on a deal to trade top starter Frankie Montas.

The speculating did not last all that long, however, as less than three hours later, Curry dropped his second bomb of the afternoon.

A few minutes later, he added that the Yankees were sending a quartet of prospects — JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina, and Cooper Bowman — as part of the deal. Most notably, none of these guys were named Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza, Jasson Dominguez, or Austin Wells (i.e., the Yankees’ four top prospects).

Needless to say, fans were thrilled.

Others, however, lamented the prospects that were sent packing in the deal, even if everyone did note that you usually have to send quality prospects in a trade in order to receive quality players back in return.

Meanwhile, The Great Bambi took a well-deserved victory lap, as earlier in the day, he correctly identified two of the four prospects that the Yankees would send to Oakland for Montas.

Thus the Sun set on Monday, and rose again on Tuesday for the final day of transactions before the trade deadline. And what a day it was — the Nationals finally sent Juan Soto to San Diego that included former Yankee Luke Voit after Eric Hosmer exercised his no-trade clause, the Phillies added Noah Syndergaard and David Robertson, the Reds sent Brandon Drury to the Padres, and the Padres sent Hosmer to the Red Sox.

Amidst the flurry of moves, the Yankees started their day out with one that was very much expected, sending Joey Gallo to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unsurprisingly, many fans wished him well, for the hometown outfielder was fairly beloved in this city despite his struggles.

And that was the trade deadline, as Brian Cashman sat back, cracked open a beverage of his choice, and waited for 6:00 pm ET to arrive. Except, of course, this is Brian Cashman, a veritable ninja, and it turned out, he had something cooking.

First, Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees were trying to make a deal with the Marlins for starter Pablo Lopez. A second big-name pitcher added at the deadline would be a veritable coup, and set the team up nicely for the stretch run.

It didn’t happen. But something else did, something that nobody saw coming.

You know what I said about everybody liking the Effross deal? Yea, this was pretty much the opposite.

Fans were similarly low on the return, since Harrison Bader is, after all, a defense-first outfielder (albeit one who won a Gold Glove in center field last year) who is currently on the shelf.

Yeah, this one was a weird trade. Maybe the Yankees are looking to put Clarke Schmidt into the rotation soon? If so, he could eventually go down as one of the winners of this deadline.

The biggest winner of these last two days, however, might just be Oswald Peraza, who has been raking in Triple-A for the past several weeks. Since he’s knocking at the door at a position whose incumbent has been underwhelming...well, the comments section has a very strong opinion on what the team should do.

I, for one, concur with you, Kyle. But I’m not here to wax poetically about what I think the Yankees should do. Instead, I’m going to assign you all homework: let us know what you think about Brian Cashman’s dynamic duo of days dominated by dramatic deadline dealing! Vote in our polls, and join the conversation in the comment section below.

Poll

How do you feel about the Yankees’ addition of Scott Effross?

This poll is closed

  • 35%
    I’m sideways with excitement for this side-arm righty!
    (238 votes)
  • 44%
    The last Cubs/Yankees trade for a relief pitcher worked out well for the team trading for the reliever, so I’m optimistic.
    (299 votes)
  • 11%
    He’s a 28-year-old rookie, so I’m not sold on him.
    (79 votes)
  • 7%
    I would’ve preferred they just brought up a pitching prospect instead.
    (49 votes)
665 votes total Vote Now

Poll

How do you feel about the Yankees’ addition of Frankie Montas?

This poll is closed

  • 34%
    He’s the second top-of-the-rotation starter that this team needed!
    (235 votes)
  • 41%
    Given the price tag, Montas is a better deal than Castillo would’ve been.
    (284 votes)
  • 20%
    He’s a good mid-rotation piece, but not the difference maker that’s needed.
    (144 votes)
  • 4%
    He’s going to be Sonny Gray 2.0
    (28 votes)
691 votes total Vote Now

Poll

How do you feel about the Yankees’ addition of Lou Trivino?

This poll is closed

  • 5%
    Wait, who? I’m sorry, I was distracted by Montas, I didn’t realize there was a second player in the trade.
    (38 votes)
  • 42%
    His stats look ugly, but he’s historically been a much better pitcher.
    (293 votes)
  • 39%
    At this point, I trust Matt Blake.
    (275 votes)
  • 11%
    Just...why? He has an ERA above 6!
    (82 votes)
688 votes total Vote Now

Poll

How do you feel about the Yankees’ decision to trade Jordan Montgomery?

This poll is closed

  • 55%
    He was a solid No. 2 starter last year and an innings eater this year, what are you doing Cashman?
    (433 votes)
  • 32%
    It’s never smart to trade a starting pitcher when you’re a first place team.
    (253 votes)
  • 7%
    Meh, I think Domingo Germán and Clarke Schmidt will be more than satisfactory as replacements.
    (55 votes)
  • 4%
    Monty was overrated anyway.
    (33 votes)
774 votes total Vote Now

Poll

What do you think about the Yankees’ addition of Harrison Bader?

This poll is closed

  • 2%
    A great defensive center fielder like him will help the Yankees prevail!
    (21 votes)
  • 19%
    A Benintendi/Bader/Judge outfield covers quite a lot of ground, so I’m not complaining too much.
    (136 votes)
  • 39%
    Why would you add a guy whose main asset is his speed when he has an injured leg?
    (281 votes)
  • 38%
    An absolute mistake that ruined the deadline.
    (277 votes)
715 votes total Vote Now

More From Pinstripe Alley

Loading comments...