On July 26th, 2021 the New York Yankees acquired reliever Clay Holmes in return for Infielder’s Diego Castillo and Hoy Jun Park. The Yankees bullpen gets an upgrade in Clay Holmes who, this season has appeared in 44 games for the Pirates putting up a 4.93 ERA in 42 innings pitched. While the ERA doesn’t look good, Holmes has a 3.57 xERA which for people who are new to the analytics game stands for Expected ERA. Holmes has a 4.06 FIP with an xFIP of 3.81, as well as a 72.8% groundball % which is a 12.8% increase from last season. Holmes has a 9.43 K/9, 5.36 BB/9, as well as a 0.64 HR/9. Holmes’ barrel% is 4.3 which is in the top 9% of the MLB. Holmes has some pretty good looking advanced stats, and seeing how the Yankees are trying to get more into analytics along with our recent bullpen woes this trade looks like one that could really benefit the Yankees if Holmes continues to put up these advanced stats.
Jon Heyman reported today that the Yankees have made a trade offer to the Colorado Rockies involving Shortstop Trevor Story. Story’s name has been thrown around in trade rumors for a while now and it is not surprising to see the Yankees interested in the Rockies star shortstop. The Yankees have seen some of their players sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, and while the Yankees should be getting them back soon, the Yankees offense could still use a little bit of help. The one problem I have with a potential Trevor Story trade or any trade for a big name player is this: the Yankees currently sit 9 games out of the division lead and 3.5 out of a wild card spot. The Yankees want to make a big splash trade to make the postseason, but it is unlikely that the Yankees win the AL East as Fangraphs has given them a 3.5% chance of winning the division. Are the Yankees willing to trade valuable prospects for a player to help them make the postseason, as well as the fact that Story is due to hit the open market and become a free agent this off-season? I have a lot of faith in Brian Cashman and a lot of trust in him that he will do the correct thing come deadline day, and not put the Yankees in a worse place for the future.
