The New York Yankees are somehow clinging to first place in the American League East division, but their last 20 games â with an 8-12 record â has acted as a flashing red light, warning the organization that they need to make some aggressive roster upgrades if they plan to get back to the World Series.
The Yankees have been MLB’s dominant franchise for more than 100 years, with 41 World Series appearances and 27 championships. No other team even comes close. When it comes to World Series trophies, only the St. Louis Cardinals are even in double digits, with 11.
But last year’s five-game defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers marked the first time the Yankees had appeared in the Fall Classic in 15 years. Their 2009 championship remains their only one since 2000. How can the proud franchise give themselves another chance â this year?
One ‘Win Now’ Move to Reinforce Starting Rotation
Yankees’ analyst Esteban Quiñones of the Pinstripes Nation site published a new trade idea on Sunday that he described as “a bold move reflective of win-now urgency.”
The Yankees’ main problem over their difficult past three weeks has been offense â scoring just 3.75 runs per game over that 20-game span, compared to 5.4 per game up to that point. But the new Pinstripes Nation trade proposal takes a long view, trusting the Yankees high-powered hitting attack to bounce back to normal, and instead focusing on adding strength and durability to the starting rotation.
The trade has an undeniable “mortgage the future” aspect to it. But that comes with any “win now” move.
The Yankees proposed trade partner would be the Kansas City Royals, a small market team with the ninth-lowest payroll in MLB at just $125 million. The Royals are an organization that seems to be locked into a perpetual cycle of rebuilding. They have actually won a World Series more recently than the Yankees, in 2015, but since then did not make a playoff appearance until last year.
In Quiñones’ proposed trade:
The Royals receive:
Rookie outfielder Jasson Dominguez
and
Yankees No. 12-ranked prospect Everson Pereira.
The Yankees receive:
10-year veteran pitcher Seth Lugo.
Lugo Ranks Among Elite AL Starters
“The Yankees seek a reliable arm to anchor a rotation now missing Gerrit Cole and navigating the uncertainty surrounding Marcus Stroman,” Quiñones wrote in outlining his trade idea. “Kansas City, falling behind in the AL Central, may choose to sell high on Lugo, who is enjoying a career year, and reinvest in two outfielders with star upside and long-term control.”
In other words, the move would help the Royals continue to build for the future while reinforcing the Yankees starting rotation with a pitcher who currently ranks in the American League’s top 10 in both ERA (eighth at 2.74) and Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for pitchers (10th at 2.7).
In Dominguez, the Yankees would be giving up their No. 1 prospect from last season, before he was added to the team’s starting lineup this year.
They also surrender a power-hitting outfielder in Pereira who was signed out of Venezuela for a $1.5 million bonus in 2017 but has been slowed by injuries and the 2020 COVID pandemic which cancelled the minor league season â but is now hitting his stride with 12 home runs at the Triple-A level so far in 2025.
Would the Royals part with Lugo, even as they sit just 3 1/2 games out of a playoff spot with 79 games to play?
Shedding the remainder of the $15 million they owe him this year might be an attraction for the Royals. Also, despite being owed the last $15 million of his three-year, $45 million deal, Lugo has a player option for 2026, meaning that Kansas City may lose him anyway as a free agent after the current season wraps up.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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