MLB Trade Deadline: Teams that won the deadline
By Anthony Sosa
New York Yankees
Already outperforming expectations in 2017, the New York Yankees saw the AL East title within reach and made moves to capitalize on that. Some exceptional play from young stars like Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius have the Yankees looking like a team with a bright present and future.
Earlier in July, the Yankees made a deal with the Chicago White Sox that got them third baseman Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. In that deal, the Yankees solidified their corner position issues. And also cleaned up their bullpen by adding two solid late inning guys.
The White Sox acquired relief pitcher Tyler Clippard and prospects Ian Clarkin, Blake Rutherford and Tito Polo.
The Yankees then made two more significant moves toward the deadline. On July 30, the Yankees acquired lefty starting pitcher Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins for pitching prospects Dietrich Enns and Zack Littell. The Atlanta Braves traded Garcia to the Twins roughly three minutes before the Twins flipped him.
In 2017, Garcia sports a 5-7 record with a 4.29 ERA, a 1.337 WHIP and 92 strikeouts. He’ll become a free agent after the 2017 season.
The big deal for the Yankees happened with about an hour to go on deadline day. The Yankees traded for Oakland Athletics’ star pitcher Sonny Gray. The right-hander owns a 6-5 record with a 3.43 ERA, a 1.175 WHIP and 94 strikeouts in 2017. He was an All-Star in 2015 and has been coming on strong of late.
All five additions give the Yankees a huge boost and they look like they have a good shot at the playoffs now.