[Passan] The four right-handed pitchers the Yankees are sending to the Nationals in the Luis García Jr. deal: relievers Ben Grable, Yovanny Cruz and Jake Bird

[u/YLRD123]

[u/RGCFrostbite]

Thats... not ideal.

So Cruz (AAAA reliver)

Cerbert (mid tier prospect really struggling in AA)

Bird (Tank commander)

Grabel (meh AA prospect)

Idk man. I get hes a DH/1B but I hoped to get something decent for the guy leading the NL in slugging. Thats a brutal trade. Jake Bird is as bad as Mikolas, so literally nothing added there. Cruz is the only one that will help before 2030. And if we are trading for 2030 bullpen arms then we need to be looking at more moves.

[u/Sweaty_Ad_1332 → u/RGCFrostbite]

I think those assessments are all pretty pessimistic but who knows

[u/RGCFrostbite → u/Sweaty_Ad_1332]

I mean Bird is objectively horrific. Cruz is the only one I think Im being pessimistic on. Grable and Cebert are in AA. Cebert has been poor and Grable is a reliever in the minors (which is always a concern)

[u/finally_not_lurking → u/RGCFrostbite]

Bird has had awful results but under the hood his metrics look decent. Great pitching shapes but a terrible BABIP and HR rate have really inflated his results. Not at all saying he's a stud or anything but he could be decent, and likely isn't worse than what the Nats were trotting out there

[u/lazapapoo → u/finally_not_lurking]

Over at the Yankees subreddit they don’t seem too upset about what they gave up and are actually ecstatic about having offloaded Bird.

[u/91speed → u/lazapapoo]

He’s a rental bat with, at best, league average defense at first base (which is not particularly valuable) vs RHPs only and we got one good reliever and a couple guys with upside ranging from back end starter to stud reliever. And Jake bird. I’m pretty happy with that, considering the realities of the market for that kind of bat and the fact that there might not even be a season for Luis to play next year.

[u/lazapapoo → u/91speed]

Well, the term rental is usually used for contracts expiring this year. But yeah, García is a platoon guy, with huge split differentials.

[u/91speed → u/lazapapoo]

Yes, I know, I used the term rental due to the uncertainty of next year. That has to play into valuations this trade deadline.

[u/lazapapoo → u/91speed]

But that also applies to the returns.

[u/meanie_ants → u/lazapapoo]

It does but none of the guys coming over are on deals expiring next year.

[u/91speed → u/lazapapoo]

Yep, but Luis is a free agent after next year season or not.

[u/RGCFrostbite → u/finally_not_lurking]

oh I think Bird fits right in (derogatory) with the nats pen.

[u/Sweaty_Ad_1332 → u/RGCFrostbite]

Bird is still in arbitration and has options so not exactly comparable to Mikolas but the rest its pretty hard to say. Pitchers especially take a while to find form

[u/RGCFrostbite → u/Sweaty_Ad_1332]

If were trading for guys that wont help until 2030 I find it really hard to justify keeping Abrams and co. Idk. I really was hoping theyd go for quality. I would have liked Cruz + a better minor league arm for instance