Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters before Tuesday's game between New York and the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium that the Bronx Bombers "feel good about" this past week's moves.
After last Thursday acquisition of former Kansas City Royals OF Andrew Benintendi, the Yankees remained active into the 2022 MLB trade deadline, including a surprise deal -- LHP Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Harrison Bader.
"I mean, everything we ever try to do is try to improve it," Cashman said. "Whatever time of year it is, all moves are made with the intention of helping in one way or another. So we feel we've added and added impact, and it came at prices, but we're on the clock and we certainly pursued a lot of avenues. And what we were able to pull down, we feel good about."
Following Monday's deals for ex-Chicago Cubs reliever Scott Effross and Oakland A's RHPs Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino, the Yankees traded OF Joey Gallo to the Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP prospect Clayton Beeter.
When the Yankees appeared done, they made their final move, swapping Montgomery and Bader.
"St. Louis obviously needs starting pitching, and Harrison Bader is one of the elite centerfield defenders in the game," Cashman said. "And so, he provides a lot of lanes for us -- I think, for our manager -- when he's healthy, which, certainly, we did a deep dive into his medicals and there's a lot of optimism and belief that some time September wise we'll be able to unpack that present and deploy him as a choice for our manager.
"But again, he's a 60-to-70 defender, 60-to-70 runner that can impact our team in many ways as at the discretion of our manager -- whether he's coming off the bench to steal a bag or starting as a starting option in the outfield. He's a really talented kid, happens to be from Bronxville, New York, so he's a local guy. So I think, certainly, it's hard to get your hands on someone of that caliber and it takes something to get something.
"And unfortunately, it cost us one of our homegrown players, in Jordan Montgomery, that we've relied on a lot, too. So I'm sorry to see Montgomery go. He's obviously a really good pitcher, he's a really good person and he's one of our own, so that makes it that much more difficult. But it's a tough world that I live in and a tough world that this business operates in."
Montgomery, 29, was a fourth-round pick by the Yankees in the 2014 MLB Draft and started 97 regular-season games from 2017-22.
The Yankees' rotation begins with ace RHP Gerrit Cole and Montas as the 1-2 punch, plus LHP Nestor Cortes and RHP Jameson Taillon, but questions remain now between the departure of Montgomery, RHP Luis Severino landing on the 60-day IL and the fifth starter -- likely RHPs Domingo German or Clarke Schmidt.
"I'm confident," Cashman said. "My job is always to worry, but I believe in the guys we have. Obviously, we added a big impact in Montas, too, in the Oakland deal. So we're excited about that. He's pushing towards the top-end-of-the-rotation-type caliber of pitchers in the game, and so we're excited about his addition.
"I think that reinforces us in our rotation. Obviously, over the course of time, we'll get Sevy back. And so, I like our pitching -- clearly. I think there's, top to bottom, a lot of quality there and certainly looking forward to seeing how it plays out the rest of the way."