The San Francisco Giants could be in the mix for New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at the MLB trade deadline this season.
Tied for the most wins in the majors heading into Thursday, the Giants are in prime position to reach their first postseason five years. It won’t be easy given how competitive the NL West is, but San Francisco is arguably a few pieces from significantly increasing their World Series odds. One player who could headline a blockbuster splash at the trade deadline is Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
Of course, a trade for Judge depends on one big question in the upcoming weeks: Are the Yankees in contention? Currently, New York sits 8.5 games behind first place and they’re four games out of a Wild Card.
Snagging one of the two play-in spots seems more likely for the Bronx Bombers at the moment, but they haven’t been able to sustain consistent winning thus far. Even for a team that does whatever it takes to win, it’s a tough spot for GM Brian Cashman in terms of rolling the dice on adding more, or scrapping this season and building towards a better future.
Judge, 29, would arguably bring in the biggest haul for New York. He’s an All-Star this season, slashing .288/.381/.532 with 20 home runs and 46 RBIs through 80 games. Judge also has one season of arbitration remaining before becoming a free agent in 2023.
What would it take for the Giants to trade for Aaron Judge?
As far as what it would take for San Francisco to land Judge, this proposed deal ran through a Baseball Trade Values Simulator is enough to make it a reality.
Giants Get
Aaron Judge, OF
Yankees Get
Mike Yastrzemski, OF
Heliot Ramos, OF (No. 3)
Sean Hjelle, RHP (No.11)
Will Wilson, INF (No.12)
In exchange for Judge, the Yankees would receive a big-league ready outfielder in Mike Yastrzemski who is arbitration eligible until the 2026.
It’s been a bit of a down season for the grandson of Carl Yastrzemski, but Mike’s .280 batting average and 31 home runs in the previous 161 games prior to this season provides some great upside in addition to his extremely team-friendly deal. Yastrzemski will earn $600K this season and he’s currently slashing .232/.332/.476 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs through 68 games.
New York would also receive three of the Giants’ Top-15 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. San Francisco was ranked with the 11th-best farm system in baseball prior to the 2021 season while the Yankees have the 18th-best.
Just what exactly the Yankees could look for in terms of positions for prospect in return remains to be seen, but adding a pitcher, infielder, and outfielder gives them a little big of everything.
It’s also possible New York decides to run things back with Judge next season, regardless if they free fall out of the standings between now and July 30. There’s some value that gets lost with the extra half season of Judge, but it could be the better option in terms of winning now rather than the future.