Matt Johnson
The New York Yankees have been one of the best teams in baseball this season, but a June swoon has brought some bad fortune and untimely injuries. While the MLB trade deadline is still a few months away, it is worth examining what the club’s options could be this summer.
Let us dive into our list of potential Yankees trade targets to strengthen their World Series hopes.
Isaac Paredes, Third Baseman
Entering play on June 5, Yankees third basemen ranked 11th in OPS and 15th in fWAR. Ryan McMahon has been great defensively but is not providing anything at the plate (.205/.262/.346) and Amed Rosario is a productive bat off the bench but woeful defensively. New York needs something better. Isaac Paredes boasts a .331 OBP this season with a .731 OPS. He comes with a 2027 club option as well, so there would be an additional year of club control for the Yankees.
Related: Insider Proposes Potential Tarik Skubal Trade for Yankees
Daniel Lynch, Reliever
Brian Cashman will always look for ways to improve the Yankees bullpen. Even presuming Ryan Weathers (converted to reliever), Carlos Lagrange and eventually Clarke Schmidt work as relievers later this year for New York, reinforcements can always help. Kansas City Royals southpaw Daniel Lynch boasts a 2.81 ERA with a 21.2 percent strikeout rate across 51.1 innings pitched since August 2025. He can function as a high-end setup man for the Yankees and he is arbitration-eligible through 2028.
Related: MLB Trades We’d Love to See, including the Yankees
Adley Rutschman, Catcher
Entering MLB games today, Yankees catchers rank 28th in OPS (.534) and 29th in batting average (.173). Austin Wells has also been woeful at preventing runners from stealing bases off him. Upgrading is necessary, especially with Aaron Judge now poised to miss significant time. Adley Rutschman is under contract through 2027, so the Yankees’ catching woes would be solved basically for two seasons. Not only is Rutschman a Gold Glove-caliber player behind the plate, but the switch-hitter has also proven to provide excellent production (125 OPS+) with the bat. He is perfect for the Yankees and they have the starting pitching Baltimore would probably want.
Bryan Abreu, Reliever
With the Houston Astros presumably going to be sellers at the MLB trade deadline, New York should check in on Bryan Abreu. It has been a rough season for the hard-throwing righty, who has a 7.52 ERA through 20.1 innings this season. However, he does rank in the 91st percentile for whiff rate (32.5 percent) and he is in the 93rd percentile for expected batting average allowed (.188). The 29-year-old righty has also shown better stuff as of late, registering a 3.46 ERA with a 27.1 percent strikeout rate in his last 13 innings. Given the track record of New York’s pitching coaches, we would love to see what they could get out of Abreu.
Ryan Jeffers, Catcher
If Adley Rutschman cannot be acquired, Ryan Jeffers would be next among our Yankees trade targets. The Minnesota Twins catcher is midway through recovering from a broken hamate bone, but he will return to the field by July. Jeffers (.949 OPS this season) is a vastly superior hitter to Wells and he is at least average in terms of pitch framing. Ideally, he would become the new primary catcher for New York with Wells shifted into playing once or twice per week.
