One of the most shocking trades before the deadline was when the Yankees swapped LHP Jordan Montgomery for currently-injured OF Harrison Bader from the St. Louis Cardinals right before Tuesday's 6 p.m. cutoff.
It was a move that has many fans scratching their heads, but for GM Brian Cashman it was a transaction with the postseason in mind.
"It came down to playing the long game, which was propelling our mindset into October and what the roster would look like in October, and how Harrison Bader and his talents could impact our manager choices in October as compared to Montgomery," Cashman said on The Michael Kay Show on Thursday.
Cashman revealed that the Montgomery for Bader deal was talked about the last 48-72 hours before the deadline and was ultimately up to the Yankees to pull the trigger on, which Cashman did Tuesday after exhausting other options.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the Yankees see Bader as more valuable to the team than Montgomery would have been through 2023. As Rosenthal noted, both players are under team control through next season, and while the outfielder will cost the Yankees less money, it wasn’t about the price tag as much as it’s about what Bader can offer manager Aaron Boone this postseason and next.
Bader is a Gold Glove center fielder and gives the Yankees better defense and speed on the bases that can help the team at different times of the game.
"There’s a lot of different lanes a healthy Harrison Bader could impact our manager more and we paid a price to get it," Cashman said, adding "with [Bader’s] skill set he’s a choice for Booney to play every day, a choice to be a defensive replacement, pinch runner specialist. ... there’s a lot of different things we can do. It’s just farming our manager with another quality choice to play with."
Bader is currently on the IL with plantar fasciitis and isn’t expected to return until September. That seems like a theme for this Yankees team as some of their big arms in the rotation and bullpen aren’t expected back until then as well.
Luis Severino, Miguel Castro and even Zack Britton are reinforcements Cashman is anticipating in September. Until then, it'll be up to Boone and the team to navigate August and hold onto a slim 1.5 game lead over the Houston Astros for the best record in the American League without the consistent arm Montgomery provided in the rotation.
But that’s obviously a risk Cashman is willing to take for, in his mind, the best chance to win in October. We’ll see if it pays off.
