As the New York Yankees have begun separating themselves from the rest of the American League East, they have to hope they can convince some teams to throw in the towel.
At 35-20, the Yankees are seven games up on the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. This year’s AL East race was expected to be an epic showdown, but it’s turning into a runaway.
It would be to the Yankees’ benefit no matter what if some of their division rivals sold at the trade deadline. But where things would get really interesting would be if any of those teams considered selling to New York.
The Toronto Blue Jays, who are eight games back of the Yankees in third place, would likely have the most to sell. And one baseball writer thinks a decorated Blue Jays veteran might be a fit for New York if he’s healthy.
On Tuesday, Jake Elman of Athlon Sports proposed that the Yankees could go after Toronto’s Max Scherzer, the 40-year-old three-time Cy Young Award winner, if he’s fully recovered from his nagging thumb issues by the trade deadline.
“The Yankees need another rotation arm, and Scherzer checks plenty of boxes. He’ll likely come cheap, especially given his age and one-year, $15.5 million contract,” Elman wrote.
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“Unless the Yankees are truly desperate, they shouldn’t need to give up top prospects Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr. here. Instead, Brian Cashman could potentially (theoretically) land Scherzer for a package built around 2024 fourth-round pick (Gage Ziehl).”
Banking on Scherzer to stay healthy at this point in his career would be a serious risk. He’s only made 10 starts since the start of last season, and has dealt with back, shoulder, and hamstring injuries in the past year on top of the thumb problems.
However, the possibility of sending “Mad Max” to the mound in the postseason will always be enticing, so don’t rule this idea out for the Yankees just yet.
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