Sometimes, the trades a team doesn’t make help drive a postseason run just as much as the ones it does.
The New York Yankees, if they go on to win a championship this season, will almost certainly end up on the right side of one of those trade equations.
As the Yankees approached this year’s deadline, one position they absolutely had to address was third base. They wound up acquiring Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies, an elite defender who has been streaky at the plate all season.
Across town, meanwhile, the New York Mets needed a center fielder. They settled on former Baltimore Orioles All-Star Cedric Mullins, who has been, to put things bluntly, abysmal in a Mets uniform.
The entire season could have looked a lot different, though. On Saturday, Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Mets and Yankees discussed a swap that would have sent center fielder Trent Grisham to Queens and third baseman Brett Baty to the Bronx, though it obviously never came to pass.
“The Yankees knew that their remaining schedule was relatively soft, and their team talented,” Martino wrote. “They began to think of ways to improve the current club without damaging the future too much. That included concepts that would have moved one big leaguer for another. One example, according to league sources, was a discussion with the Mets about dealing Trent Grishman for Brett Baty.
“The Mets needed a rental center fielder, while the Yankees sought a controllable third baseman and liked Baty’s lefty swing. Obviously, that one never progressed. The Yankees addressed third base by acquiring Ryan McMahon from Colorado and continued to eye reasonably priced upgrades, with a particular interest in relievers and right-handed bench players.”
Where would the Yankees be without Grisham now? He’s bashed 34 home runs this season (second-most on the team), with 18 of them coming after the All-Star break. That doesn’t even tell the full tale, because several of those blasts completely rescued the Yankees in their time of need. Situationally, he’s helped them to their playoff berth as much as anyone.
That’s not to say the Yankees are guaranteed to be better off long-term for not having made the trade, because Grisham is a free-agent-to-be and Baty is under team control through the 2029 season. But if the Yankees hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy, it seems likely Grisham will have a major role in that accomplishment.
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