Yankees-Twins trade proposal brings All-Star to New York in 5-player swap

The New York Yankees' needs at the trade deadline are all slightly less than desperate, but they're needs nonetheless.

One more relief pitcher and an extra infielder who can slot in against right-handed pitching seem like the minimum requirements. If that infielder can be a middle-of-the-order bat somehow, or if the Yankees can land a marquee starting pitcher for a reasonable cost, all the better.

According to one baseball writer, there might be a framework to handling both of those base-level needs in one big trade with the Minnesota Twins.

On Saturday, Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media proposed the following five-player mock trade: relief pitcher Brock Stewart and All-Star utility man Willi Castro to the Yankees; outfielder Spencer Jones and right-handed pitchers Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and Brendan Beck to the Twins.

"Brock Stewart is having a dominant season for the Minnesota Twins, striking out 34% of batters faced with a 2.74 ERA, as the right-hander has been one of the best bullpen arms in the game," Garcia wrote.

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"As for Willi Castro, his versatile glove and switch-hitting capabilities could make him the perfect replacement for Oswaldo Cabrera, taking a more offensive-minded approach to the utilityman role."

Jones was just promoted to Triple-A and is displaying eye-popping power this season, while Rodriguez-Cruz has broken out at High-A with a 2.41 ERA and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. It's a steep package, and that's without accounting for Beck, a 26-year-old who is finally having a healthy productive season in the upper levels of the minors.

But Castro, who is outpacing his 2024 numbers offensively with a 118 OPS+, might offer just enough value for the Yankees to consider making such a bold move.

Recent history has told us that the Yankees rarely give up prospects like Jones, especially for a deal that doesn't include a superstar, but this year might prove the exceptions.

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