The New York Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman have let MLB know that they are looking to buy at the trade deadline. One of their major needs is a third baseman after the team moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base and released D.J. LeMahieu from his contract. Cashman outright said they are looking for an upgrade at third base.
Eugenio Suárez of the Arizona Diamondbacks is easily the top third baseman thatcould be acquired in a trade. The thing is, the Diamondbacks will need convincing to move on from their slugging third baseman and All-Star, just months before he hits free agency. For the Yankees, the price won’t be cheap to acquire Suárez.
According to Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media (subscription required), a person with knowledge of the Diamondbacks’ trade deadline strategy that the team would “covet” one of the Yankees top prospects like outfielder Spencer Jones and starting pitcher Cam Schlittler.
Diamondbacks reportedly want a top Yankees prospect in exchange for Eugenio Suárez
Look, Yankees fans might blame the “Yankees tax,” as in, teams will raise the asking price for players only for them. The thing is, Suárez is going to be highly coveted at the trade deadline, as there are already a couple of teams linked to him, such as the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.
Schittler should be off the board for the Yankees, considering he is filling in for Clarke Schmidt in the rotation, who underwent Tommy John surgery on Friday. Plus, Schlittler had a solid MLB debut for the Yankees this past Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners, where he struck out seven batters and allowed three earned runs on four hits in 5.1 innings in a 9-6 win.
Meanwhile, Jones has been a long-coveted prospect by the Yankees. At the time of the 2022 MLB Draft, Jones seemed like a potential future replacement for Aaron Judge, who was set to hit free agency after that season. Jones is 6-foot-7 and weighs 240 pounds, and possesses incredible power at the plate. This season, Jones recorded a .297 batting average, a .405 on-base percentage, a .635 slugging percentage, 21 home runs, 43 RBI, 56 runs, and 65 hits in 219 at-bats across Double-A and Triple-A.
Suárez, meanwhile, is having a solid season for the Diamondbacks, as he’s slashing .249/.317/.556 while recording 29 home runs, 54 hits, 75 RBI, and 84 hits in 92 games (338 at-bats).
It will remain to be seen if the Yankees will find a way to strike a deal with the Diamondbacks. That, and see if Arizona is actually willing to trade Suárez. But the ask for a top prospect might give Yankees fans some pause when it comes to declaring Suárez as a “must-add trade deadline target.”
