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Yankees' Intriguing Trade Rumor Resurfaces — But Does It Make Sense?
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- Yankees' Intriguing Trade Rumor Resurfaces — But Does It Make Sense?
(Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports)
The New York Yankees definitely have some areas of need heading into the MLB offseason, but outfield does not appear to be one of them.
The Yankees have Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones and Aaron Judge as their three starting outfielders, from left to right, and Heliot Ramos is the fourth outfielder off the bench.
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But could New York actually pursue another player at the position?
Joel Sherman of The New York Post revisited some trade deadline discussions by the Yankees recently, noting that they talked to the Washington Nationals about a deal for center fielder Jacob Young.
Could New York go back to that well this winter?
Young slashed .252/.318/.390 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI over 471 plate appearances in 2026, so he isn't much of a hitter. He stolen 18 bases in 22 attempts, which was nice, but he has never been much of an offensive threat with his lifetime .652 OPS.
Where Young excels, however, is defensively.
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The 27-year-old posted 11 outs above average this past season, and through four big-league campaigns, he has totaled 49 OAA. That is an incredible number.
Young is also under team control through 2029, which would give the Yankees plenty of club control over him.
Why would the Nationals move him then? Because he isn't really a full-time starter because of his subpar bat, and they may want to maximize their value for him.
If Young becomes available, New York may want to seriously consider pursuing him in a trade and then re-routing Ramos elsewhere.
The idea of Young absolutely wouldn't make sense in a starting role, but as a fourth outfielder? Absolutely.
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Typically, you want your fourth outfielder to be good defensively, which Ramos certainly is not. And while Young has exclusively played center field throughout his major-league career, he is almost definitely flexible enough to play the corners.
The Yankees would probably like to start transitioning Judge out of the field to preserve his health, and picking up a strong defensive outfielder like Young would help with that.
Plus, while Jones has displayed terrific offensive potential , he doesn't look like a long-tern center field. He is probably more suited for right field, so in the future, the Yanks could slide Judge to DH on a full-time role, put Young in center and shift Jones to right.
Of course, cost matters here. Because of Young's team control and defensive utility, Washington might ask for a pretty penny in return for him. But if the Yankees could acquire him at a reasonable price, he might be worth a look.
