Yankees' Trade Deadline Hopes Just Became Much More Difficult

The New York Yankees fell in Toronto again on Friday night, losing to the Blue Jays by a score of 8-5.

Sound familiar?

The Rogers Centre was a house of horrors for the Yankees last season, and that continued in the first matchup of their three-game weekend series in which Ryan Weather got absolutely shelled.

But New York lost more than just the game on Friday evening.

Trent Grisham left the contest in the sixth inning while sliding into second base, complaining of hamstring tightness. Remember: the center fielder dealt with hamstring issues last year, as well, and hamstrings are always tricky.

Grisham has been played on the 10-day injured list, but he could be out for much longer than that. If this ends up being anything that sidelines Grisham for an extended period of time, the Yankees will be in trouble in more ways than one.

First of all, Grisham had been on a tear recently. The 29-year-old got off to a dreadful start this season, but he slashed .263/.355/.442 in May and was hitting .361 through nine games in June before getting injured.

What's more, Grisham has had a hit in 12 of his last 14 contests, putting together six multi-hit games throughout that span.

With Aaron Judge sidelined, losing Grisham's surging bat is rough.

Second, New York's outfield situation just became that much more complicated. Judge is out for a couple of months due to a stress fracture in his ribs. If Grisham lands on the shelf, too, the Yanks will be running low on feasible options.

Spencer Jones has been the primary right fielder, with Jose Caballero and Max Schuemann also possessing the ability to man the position. But now that Grisham is out, as well, the Yankees' depth becomes much thinner.

Jasson Dominguez — who was activated to replace Grisham — is returning from an AC joint sprain and was initially expected to take reps in right along with Jones, but now, the more likely scenario is that Jones will move to center field (his natural position) and Dominguez will take over in right.

This throws a significant wrench into New York's trade deadline plans. Why? Because both Jones and Dominguez surely would have been tossed around in trade discussions, but now, the Yankees can't really afford to do that.

Again, the severity of Grisham's injury is the key point here. If if turns out that he'll only miss a few games, then it isn't a huge deal. But that is almost never the case with hamstring issues.

An extended Grisham absence would mean that New York would probably have to leave both of its young outfielders out of trade packages. That is, of course, unless the Yanks would trust one of Caballero or Schuemann taking an everyday role in the outfield, which probably isn't an avenue they would want to pursue.

Both players are plus defenders, but most of their value is baked into the fact that they can play virtually any position. Sticking either player in one spot is not the best way to utilize them.

Dominguez could be back with the Yankees as soon as Tuesday, when they open up a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox in the Bronx. I initially viewed Dominguez as a prime trade candidate because of the presence of Jones in right field.

But now? With Grisham potentially facing a semi-long recovery period? Dominguez could become a central figure in New York's outfield, and that would absolutely make trade discussions more challenging for Brian Cashman.

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