PHILADELPHIA — The trade deadline came and went Tuesday without any fireworks from the Yankees, who had plenty of balls in the air but only pulled down a few as they tried to fortify a roster that is only guaranteed to include Juan Soto for a few more months.
The heaviest lifting came on Saturday, when they traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr., but on Tuesday they added a pair of relievers (Mark Leiter Jr. from the Cubs and Enyel De Los Santos from the Padres, both of whom are under team control through 2026) and subtracted another (Caleb Ferguson to the Astros) before beginning the final 54-game stretch trailing the Orioles by a half-game in the AL East.
Chisholm continued to make an impact with two more homers in Tuesday’s 7-6, 12-inning win and the Yankees are banking on his athleticism to help fill their hole at third base, a brand-new position.
Leiter arrived before game time Tuesday and ended up pitching a scoreless 10th in his debut.
He’s expected to be a high-leverage reliever with swing-and-miss stuff who can also get lefties out, while De Los Santos adds another strikeout threat for a bullpen that has largely been missing one this season.
But left on the table were potential deals to add another bat, late-inning reliever (particularly from the left side) or even a starting pitcher.
The Yankees received a scare on Tuesday when Gerrit Cole was scratched from his start against the Phillies with general body fatigue, though the team did not seem overly concerned — as indicated in part by not adding a starter before the deadline — and hopes to have the reigning AL Cy Young winner slot back into the rotation this weekend.
Aaron Judge had expressed hope on Tuesday night that the Yankees would be making more moves,
“We got some good guys making contributions,’’ Judge said after the win. “We saw what Jazz did tonight and Mark, I don’t think he had time to take off his airplane shoes and he was in the game.”
More than anything, he’s happy to move on.
“I’m glad it’s over with,’’ Judge said of the trade deadline. “I’m glad we got the guys in the room. Now it’s time to go.”
Besides Chisholm, the Yankees’ biggest reinforcements down the stretch may have to come internally in the form of Jasson Dominguez, Clarke Schmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Ian Hamilton, Scott Effross, Nick Burdi and Cody Poteet, among others.
Some of the names the Yankees had been interested in landed elsewhere in a market that saw costs soaring for arms — Marlins reliever Tanner Scott to the Padres, Tigers starter Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers, Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Cubs, Athletics reliever Lucas Erceg to the Royals, utilityman Tommy Edman to the Dodgers and Angels reliever Luis Garcia to the Red Sox.
Others ended up staying put, like Rays corner infielder Yandy Diaz, Angels infielder Luis Rengifo, Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi and Giants starter Blake Snell.
“I know [the front office was] going through a ton of iterations, having a ton of conversations, trying to be creative in certain ways,” Boone said.
There was also the potential for the Yankees to deal from their major league roster to acquire talent — with Nestor Cortes and Gleyber Torres among the candidates to be moved — but the only one that ended up being traded was Ferguson, the struggling lefty reliever they sent to the Astros for a minor league reliever and international signing bonus pool money.
Leiter cost the Yankees relief prospect Jack Neely and infield prospect Ben Cowles.
They got De Los Santos and a minor league reliever from the Padres for Triple-A outfielder Brandon Lockridge. Chisholm required giving up prospects Agustin Ramirez, Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez, though the Yankees held on to their most prized prospects like Dominguez and Spencer Jones.
