Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/25/23

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: The trade deadline approaches, as it always does. Kirschner, the club’s beat writer for The Athletic, reached out on Twitter for realistic trade proposals from fans and then evaluated them in this article. In some of the theoretical swaps, the Yankees said nay. In others, the trade partner vetoed the deal. The one trade that Kirschner thinks could happen? Juan So... just kidding. Matt Thaiss, Carlos Estevez, and Jaime Barria from the Angels if they chose to sell, in exchange for Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe. Of course, since a Shohei Ohtani trade looks more and more unlikely by the day, the Halos will probably just keep all of those guys to make one last run with the likely MVP.

New York Post | Mark W. Sanchez: The Yankees can ill-afford to be without Gleyber Torres for any prolonged period of time. Gleyber has easily been the club’s most consistent offensive threat in recent weeks. After leaving Sunday’s game in the seventh inning, it appears his left hip tightness shouldn’t hold him down for long. Aaron Boone reported Sunday night that Torres was already starting to feel better, and he did not need to be sent for testing. It won’t be a surprise if we don’t see him in the lineup Tuesday, but hopefully, like a good Gleyber, Torres is there sooner rather than later.

MiLB.com: Tyler Hardman is having himself a season at Double-A, playing for the Somerset Patriots. For the second time in 2023, Hardman found himself named Eastern League Player of the Week. Last week, Hardman was 9-for-19 with four HR, eight RBI, seven runs scored and a 1.741 OPS, highlighted by a two-dinger, four-ribbie outing on July 20th. Hardman has already clubbed a career-high 24 roundtrippers and he is all over the Eastern League leaderboard offensively: fifth in RBI, third in slugging percentage, ninth in OPS, fourth in extra-base hits, and sixth in total bases.

MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: The Yankees and right-handed reliever Michael Feliz are parting ways. Feliz, who had been toiling at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, is heading across the Pacific to the NPB, where he has signed on with the Chunichi Dragons. With no call-up to the Bronx imminent, it seems he decided to pursue a new opportunity in Japan after starting the season in the Mexican League, then signing a minor-league deal with the Yankees in May. Injury has derailed the 30-year-old’s career, as he has only pitched 25 big league innings since the beginning of 2020. Here’s hoping he continues to find his form in Japan.