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Devin Williams throws against the Colorado Rockies in the eighth inning at Coors Field.

Pitching is always a priority for contending teams around Major League Baseball, and the expectation is for the New York Yankees to be focused on that at the trade deadline.

It remains uncertain just how big the Yankees plan to go, but given this organization has a real opportunity to win a World Series, there isn’t much of a reason not to go all in. Frankly, the last thing the Yankees want to do is look back and wish that they could’ve done more. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Yankees will do everything in their power to win a World Series or trade all of their prospects, as that isn’t wise, either, but there’s reason to believe they could find themselves in a great position if they make the correct moves.

Addressing a Pressing Need

When recently searching for what the New York Yankees might do at the trade deadline, The Athletic proposed a very interesting trade scenario. They noted that Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins could be available, and named the Yankees as one of the best fits.

“Duran has three dominant pitches and the unhittable results to match, pairing a triple-digit fastball with two swing-and-miss breaking balls for a 2.40 ERA in four MLB seasons. Minnesota’s closer for the past three years, Duran often overpowers hitters and has gone over 70 innings without allowing a homer.

“Duran is one of the league’s best relievers, still cheap and under team control through 2027, so the Twins will likely ask for the moon and might be able to get it somewhere. He has the ability to transform an entire bullpen and ranks second to Devin Williams in reliever Win Probability Added since 2022,” they wrote.

Duran has continued to throw the baseball at a very high level over the past few years, arguably one of the better closers in Major League Baseball.

For the Yankees, they’d be guaranteeing themselves outs if Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and Duran continue to do what they’ve done for much of their careers.

Throughout the 2025 campaign, the right-hander has posted a 1.56 ERA and has struck out 45 hitters in 40.1 innings.

Fixing the Bullpen

According to the New York Post, the New York Yankees will be focused on adding a reliever at the deadline.

However, The Post didn’t specifically note who they might add, as it still remains uncertain who could be available. As they mentioned, the Yankees have done what they’ve needed to do in recent years regarding bullpen help. If that trend continues, perhaps someone like Duran could be on their way to New York.

“Cashman usually attempts to upgrade in relief at the deadline — Mark Leiter Jr. was the most significant reliever he acquired last year, which followed a trend that saw Keynan Middleton (2023), Scott Effross and Lou Trivino (2022) and Clay Holmes and Joely Rodríguez (2021) imported — and generally those prior Yankees bullpens were in better shape than this one.

“Since their skid began on June 14, the Yankees statistically have had the fifth-least valuable bullpen in the majors, according to FanGraphs, and have tallied a sixth-worst 5.19 ERA. Devin Williams has settled and Tim Hill has remained strong, but Luke Weaver, Jonathan Loáisiga, Leiter and Ian Hamilton have been leaned on heavily and not been sharp. The loss of Fernando Cruz (oblique) and the loss of a potential reinforcement in Jake Cousins (Tommy John surgery) have hurt,” they wrote .

Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan