The New York Yankees played with fire, and surprise, surprise: they got burnt.
Heading into the MLB trade deadline earlier this month, the general expectation was that the New York Yankees would add at least one relief pitcher. In fact, that was the one thing everyone thought for sure they would do.
Instead, the Yankees acquired a couple of bats in Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos, completely ignoring their need for bullpen help.
It wasn't for a lack of availability, either. Plenty of relievers around baseball moved, and other contenders scooped them up. Meanwhile, New York sat idly by, clearly feeling that the pen was not a significant need.
And why? Because the Yankees planned on sending one of Ryan Weathers or Will Warren to the bullpen once the starting rotation got healthy. They also were banking on Clarke Schmidt returning and becoming a late-inning option.
What happened? Schmidt suffered a setback in his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Max Fried hit the injured list for the second time this season due to an elbow bruise, which forced Weathers and Warren to both stay in the rotation. And on Saturday afternoon, Weathers left his start against the Toronto Blue Jays with forearm discomfort.
New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers. Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images.You couldn't possibly paint a more grim picture, and while one can argue that the Yankees couldn't have possibly planned for all of those injuries ... they should have.
Schmidt has not pitched in over a year. Fried was already on the IL once this season. Weathers had never thrown 100 innings until 2026. Why was New York so sure that the Yanks would be just fine here?
Further compounding the problem is that Fernando Cruz, who has been one of the Yankees' top relievers most of the year, has been shaky lately. Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn have significant workloads. Tim Hill hasn't even resembled his prior self.
David Bednar has been terrific, yes, but the bridge to him has been questionable all season, to say the least, and now things just got even more dicey.
New York absolutely, positively should have gotten bullpen help at the deadline. The fact that it didn't is inexcusable. And why exactly did the Yankees trade for Ramos — who is hitting just .113 since arriving in the Bronx — again?
This was a major oversight by Brian Cashman and the front office mixed with a little bit of hubris. The Yanks obviously felt they had it all figured out and chose to take a massive gamble. Now, it's coming back to bite them.
