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Thursday in the Bronx, the Yankees introduced the recent acquisition of the trade Zach Britton, announced an agreement for JA Happ and defeated the Royals, 7-2, to get in the 4 1/2 games of the Red Sox in the East of the AL. But in the midst of all this good news, a disaster: Aaron Judge fell after suffering a fracture in his right wrist against Kansas City.
The injury occurred after Judge was hit by a fastball Jakob Junis in the first inning. Because the judge is made of a combination of adamantium and mithril, the right-handed man stayed in the game, scored on a sack volley that inning, then took another turn at bat in the third, hitting a simple. However, he was removed before his next trip to the plate, and post-match X-rays revealed the breakage of the ulnar styloid bone on his wrist. The judge will not need a surgery, but it will take three weeks before he can swing a bat, probably excluding him for the entire month of August. .
You can expect this absence to expand a bit more. Phillies third baseman, Maikel Franco, suffered the same injury three years ago on August 11, 2015, and missed nearly two months of action, returning Oct. 3, a 42-game loss . In the best of cases, Lenny Dykstra broke this bone early in the 1992 season, April 7, and was removed only 17 days. Dykstra is completely crazy, however, maybe it's not the best comparison.
Whatever the case may be, Yankees fans can probably expect a return in early September, baduming that there will be no complications. Wrist injuries are tricky and unpleasant things, and the hope is that it is not a problem of the type Nomar Garciaparra that alters Judge's career in the future. But even if everything goes as planned, the Yankees will spend a long time of their star.
It's a big loss. Best Yankees player and MVP honors finisher last year, Judge achieved a brilliant .285 / .398 / .548 with 26 homers, a 153 OPS + and 5.4 Wins Above Replacement (Baseball-Reference Edition). He is first in the team in percentage base, in percentage, OPS + and WAR – the last with a large margin (Luis Severino is second at 4.5, the next best hitter is Aaron Hicks, down to 3 , 0). Quite simply, he's not a player that you can replace.
So, what can the Yankees do to make up for its loss? Here are three options for what to do next, ranging from boring to extravagant.
1. Doing Nothing
If there is a glimmer of hope for the Yankees, it is that they have lost a player to an already full group. While the judge is the right-handed regular, the other big slugger of New York, Giancarlo Stanton, easily takes his place there. (Not a bad insurance policy to have.) Alongside Stanton are Hicks-having a terrific season at .245 / .347 / .472 and playing superlative defense in the center- city and the venerable Brett Gardner, cutting a respectable .249 / .338 / .388, in the left. An outside field of Stanton-Hicks-Gardner should be more than beautiful.
The judge's injury also opens a hole in the designated batter, which he and Stanton usually occupy, but again, the deep Yankees have a ready answer to this problem in the form of Neil Walker. The second base veteran started slowly this season, but he relaunched it in July, reaching .311 / .407 / .444 the month. A combination of him and bench bats like Tyler Austin and Wade can hold the fort there until the judge is back.
Thus, the Yankees do not need to do anything drastic. Again, this is not an ideal solution. Gardner has barely been an average league bat this season. Walker is prone to injury and lacks potential at the age of 32. Austin and Wade floundered in their appearances in the major leagues. And if nothing else, Stanton is a definitive Defensive Declbadification of Judge in Law.
Also a problem is the depth. The judge's injury came on the same day as the Yankees defeated multi-purpose infielder Brandon Drury and triple A outfielder Billy McKinney for Happ. The best hope Clint Frazier would have had the call and a starting gig, but he is on the disabled list with concussion symptoms. Jacoby Ellsbury, absent all season with unidentified injuries, apparently fell in the Springfield Mystery Spot. The Yankees have no body to call if anyone in this group struggles; another injury would be catastrophic.
The Yankees can survive with this arrangement, but they can – and maybe should – aim higher.
2. Get a cheap veteran in a trade
The other bit of luck in the judge's injury is timing, as there are still five days left before the trading deadline. This gives ample time to Brian Cashman to find a replacement in the market if he so desires. And if he did, he would probably shop in the rental section because Hicks, Judge and Stanton are under the control of the team for next year, and Gardner has an option of $ 12.5 million team
. New York? A right-handed hitter to team up with Gardner would be a good addition – say returning Angels (and former Yankee) Chris Young or veteran Orioles Adam Jones. Speaking of former Yankees, Cashman could once again call the Blue Jays and ask what Curtis Granderson would cost. Other players available include second-baseman Brian Dozier, third-baseman Mike Moustakas, third-baseman Eduardo Escobar and third-baseman Rangers Adrian Beltre, among veterans of infield / DH
. the best fit: Jose Bautista. The aging Slugger had a good rebound season with the Mets, hitting .235 / .385 / .436 with six homers and 129 OPS + in 187 appearances since joining the team at the end of May. A formidable defender, he slides directly into the functions of DH and provides a straight pop. The major problem, however, is that he plays in Queens. Since the idea of co-owner of Mets Jeff Wilpon's perfect day involves a loss of the Yankees, it's hard to see the team helping his rival crosstown in his time of need.
However, everyone in this group is defective or old (or both). The Yankees do not need a star, but why not shoot for the moon when they can? This brings us to Option No. 3.
3. Go after Bryce Harper
Listen to me, because it's not as crazy as you think. Yes, the idea that the Nationals are trading Harper in the middle of a pennel race seems like a cuckoo, and the cost of the prospects would be huge. But there are reasons why this could be a realistic option.
For starters, the Nationals are only nominally in the playoff race. Coming into play Friday, Washington is 51-51, seven games behind Philadelphia in Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador and 4½ games away from the second wild card. , where he has five teams. Since the beginning of June, the Nats have been one of the worst baseball clubs, with a record of 18-28. The chances of the Fangraphs' playoffs give them just 52.8% chance of winning the playoffs, and only 34.8% of the chances of capturing the division. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the team reached out to others to gauge his interest in his free agents, he added. Pbadan .
For now, these discussions do not include Harper, and it's easy to understand why, because dealing with it could cause a club and fan mutiny. But of all Washington 's plays, he would easily bring back the best return, especially as he walks this winter, the Nationals will have almost nothing left. Once the free agency has begun, Washington will make a qualifying offer to Harper, which guarantees a clearing to the repês when he signs up with a new club. But because of the many qualifiers of this qualification offer, the best that the Nats could do if Harper left would be a choice after the fourth round of the 2019 draft. Any prospect gained in exchange would be more valuable; to say nothing of what he would bring back into a trade.
There is nothing to say that Harper has left for good if the Nationals treat him. The exchange is a risk to the extent that it could offend, and it also gives the acquiring team the time to woo it in the long run. If Harper really wants to be in DC, he would understand that this decision establishes Washington for a better future with his comeback to lead the way. Even if he takes his ball and beard elsewhere, the Nationals still have a solid core, plus all that they will have gotten for Harper.
As it stands, if the Nationals made it available, there are few contenders who have the space and the means to acquire it; Houston and Cleveland would probably be the most likely. But the Yankees can be the match made in paradise. They have a place outside Judge and a fertile farm system that recruits prospects. And although Harper is not perfect – he's a defensive mess and only hits the .216 in the middle of a long and brutal collapse – he's one of the few players alive to be able to match or exceed Judge's production on the set.
. The cost of the prospect would be heavy, equivalent to what the Dodgers have abandoned for Manny Machado. Payroll could be a problem, with the Yankees just below the luxury tax threshold and desperate to stay there. Finding space for all judges, Harper and Stanton would be a problem once everyone is healthy. (Again, it's a headache that most directors would kill to have.)
But if the Yankees want to be, well, the Yankees, then that's the shot to go . Just when all the other teams think that your back is against the wall, you pull it over them. Add Harper would be a glorious and crazy counter-movement. Is it likely? Absolutely not. But would that add fuel and fun this season? Absolutely yes.
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