PHILADELPHIA — With just over a week remaining before the trade deadline, “All’s quiet on the Western Front,” said Erich Maria Remarque — er, Aaron Boone.
The Yankees have clear needs — most notably a bat, including one at catcher, to help rejuvenate a lineup that has been mostly lifeless for over a month now — but Boone indicated that he has not had many conversations with GM Brian Cashman in the last few days as the market waits to declare itself.
“I think it’s probably just leaguewide, that calm before the storm,” Boone said Saturday before the Yankees faced the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “I would imagine conversations are going on between clubs. But again, you’re talking about still a number of clubs that probably don’t even know what they’re going to do, one way or another. So it’s still got to define itself here over the next several days. I would imagine those conversations start to heat up in the next week.
“Hopefully that allows us to do something that ultimately helps us.”
Because of the expanded postseason, entering Saturday, only six teams (the Angels, Rockies, Mets, Royals, Giants and Athletics) were more than 6 ½ games out of the last playoff spot, with a handful of others still theoretically holding out some hope that they could sneak in if they do not sell.
That has muddied the waters to an extent in terms of clear-cut buyers and sellers, as has teams deciding whether to deal players with multiple years of control — as in Padres closer Mason Miller, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers and Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña, among others.
Either way, the Yankees will be in the market trying to improve a team that was two games back of the Rays for the AL East lead (and the best record in the American League overall).
They need help at catcher, where Austin Wells has been one of the worst hitters in the major leagues this season, at least one more high-leverage bullpen arm and potentially another right-handed-hitting bat.
Of course, Aaron Judge’s uncertain timeline for a return from a right rib fracture looms over all of it, as the Yankees came into Saturday just 22-22 since he last played a game.
The offense has suffered mightily without him, but Boone — like Cashman had earlier this month — insisted that Judge’s status would not impact how aggressive the Yankees would be in pursuing help ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.
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“I don’t think so, because I think we all expect him back,” Boone said of Judge, who has still not been cleared for baseball activities — at which point he may still need another month to get back.
The Yankees have somewhat treaded water without the back-to-back AL MVP, though, thanks in large part to their pitching — a rotation headlined by Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole and now a healthy Max Fried, the kind of group that could give teams problems in October.
But the offense will have to pick up its weight to make sure those pitching efforts do not go to waste, putting the pressure on Cashman to get them some help in the way of bats.
After last year’s deadline — when the Yankees’ haul included David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, Ryan McMahon, José Caballero and Austin Slater — Boone felt better about that team than any other in his tenure, even though it eventually crashed out in the ALDS.
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“It feels like maybe the needs are a little bit different going into this deadline,” Boone said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody knows what you’re going to be able to do. You’re trying to make your club better. Maybe you line up with someone that you’re able to hammer a strength or sometimes you’re able to plug a hole.
“Whatever it may be, it’s hard to predict what those things are. But I know our guys have done all their due diligence. Hopefully something lines up that we get through this and whatever happens, you look forward to getting past it and knowing what you’re going to be the rest of the way.”
