The Yankees have acquired righty reliever Keynan Middleton from the Chicago White Sox, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Middleton, a 29-year-old groundball specialist, posted a 3.96 ERA and 11.64 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) for Chicago this season. Per Joe LoGrippo of YES, the Yankees sent minor league righty Juan Carela to Chicago in return.
Thus concludes what’s been a disappointing trade deadline amidst an even more disappointing season for the Yankees. They’re last in the AL East at 55-51 and didn’t move the needle at all at the deadline. At best, they offered minimal relief for their bullpen.
No Dylan Carlson. No Randal Grichuk. To add insult to injury, the Mets traded Justin Verlander back to the Houston Astros.
This truly is the rock bottom for not only the Yankees, but general manager Brian Cashman. Even in non-playoff years like 2008 and 2016, he still managed to swing deals that gave fans hope for the future.
This time, though? The Yankees have struggled so badly for so long that all of their big pieces essentially proved un-tradeable. Not even the expiring contracts of Harrison Bader, Luis Severino, or Wandy Peralta. The Yankees didn’t even try to sell high on closer Clay Holmes.
Not making any significant moves and only boosting the bullpen is a big, big risk. Not only did Aaron Judge miss two months with an injury, but the rest of his teammates have failed to perform well. The Yankees’ problems are so deeply organizational that, in just one year, they’ve become an absolute laughingstock of Major League Baseball.
At best, Middleton performs well enough down the stretch to maybe re-sign on a one-year deal in the offseason.
At worst, this is a cruel reminder that instead of expecting Brian Cashman’s New York Yankees to compete, they instead seem more than happy to survive.
A sad day for baseball indeed.
