What a strange couple days, huh? As the Trade Deadline crept to a close, the Yankees made some notable moves. The Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, and Scott Effross additions were met with near-universal praise, and getting a minor pitching prospect in exchange for Joey Gallo wasn't too shabby either. However, the decision to flip steady starter Jordan Montgomery for injured outfielder Harrison Bader was met with some understandably raised eyebrows, given the current makeup of the Yankees' rotation.
Andrew and Kunj chatted about both the moves (particularly the Monty/Bader swap) and the Yankees' annoyingly mediocre brand of baseball since the start of July that continued over the past week. They just barely took three of four at home from the selling Royals before dropping a series at Yankee Stadium to the Wild Card-contending Mariners. Gerrit Cole looked bad, Andrew Benintendi continued his post-acquisition slump, Clay Holmes blew another ugly save, and the vibes have just been off, more closely resembling the 2021 team at times.
Thankfully, this Yankees team still has a double-digit division lead, so that's not really in jeopardy, but the play will have to improve sooner rather than later. Again, from a personnel standpoint, the ballclub is better than it was at the All-Star break. The onus is on them to step it up with a grueling road trip ahead through St. Louis, Seattle, and Boston.
As always, the show wraps up with Kunj's B-Ref leaderboard check-in and the Yankee & Manfred of the Week, which didn't require too much critical thinking on the part of either host. (Thank the heavens.)
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