“Cash-god” made LOTS of moves at the deadline. It was without a doubt one of the biggest trade deadlines we’ve seen in a while across all of baseball (unless your team is named the Braves) in what we were told was going to be one of the quietest years because “no one was available”.
The Yankees completed 10 trades ahead of the deadline, with the majority coming on deadline day. The team experiences big improvements in both talent and depth overall, and many can see this as a Brian Cashman masterclass.
However, looking at the moves made at the trade deadline from the perspective of a prospect hugger, I’m heartbroken as I am every year, despite knowing that many of these guys will get better opportunities with their respective new organizations. Below, I’ll discuss the prospects, something that you won’t necessarily read about. You’ll see countless articles about what the Yankees gained, but not necessarily what they lost in exchange.
Herring carried most of the weight in this trade as he’s shown so far this season that he could be a potential #2/#3 starter in the Majors. Herring threw 89.1 innings, permitting a 1.71 ERA while with the Yankees’ Low-A (Tampa) and High-A (Hudson Valley), plus a 10.28 K/9, a 3.63 BB/9 and a 0.30 HR/9.
Grosz had 15 starts with High-A Hudson Valley, where he threw a 4.14 ERA in 87 innings. He had a 9.72 K/9, a 3.62 BB/9 and a 0.52 HR/9. Grosz didn’t impress me nearly as much in his time in Tampa last season when compared to Herring, but he provides more starting pitching depth for the Rockies farm system.
This trade can be graded an A, because while the Yankees gave up one of their most-promising newly acquired arms in Herring, Colorado is taking on the full contract of McMahon.
Two days later, the Yankees acquired INF/OF Amed Rosario from the Nationals for RHP Clayton Beeter and OF Browm Martínez.
Beeter was easily the one name that most fans knew because of some time spent in the Bronx, but fans were very much in the dark on Martinez, who is an outfielder in the Dominican Summer League.
Martinez spent 2024 & 2025 with the DSL NYY Bombers, hitting a combined .320/.426/.419/.845 in 56 games, including 3 HR this season and 35 total RBI. There’s not much video out there in the wild (in fact none I could find unless I actively watch a broadcast game and cut something myself), but I understand he was one of the better hitters on the DSL Bombers, especially this year. Martinez held a .404 batting average with a 1.139 OPS; something definitely clicked this year.
This trade can be graded a B-, because Rosario is a free agent at the end of this season (a “rental”) and there is so much potential with Martinez given how he’s performed in the DSL. However, players can fall apart that early in their careers, and I’ve seen it happen a handful of times where making the move to the States and playing in the FCL or in Low-A Tampa was too much for a prospect.
The return for Carrasco has yet to have been announced, and may not be for a while, but Carrasco provided solid depth, plus veteran experience, to the Triple-A RailRiders.
Ziehl was a 4th round selection in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Miami (FL) and had been doing well this season (4.17 ERA in 82-⅓ IP), recently earning himself a promotion. In fact, Ziehl only made one appearance with High-A Hudson Valley, where he allowed 1 run (earned) on 3 hits, no walks and struck out 3.
This trade can be graded an A-, because the Yankees had to make a move with the potential that Judge is out for the rest of the season. Slater is a “rental”, but he’s also a minimal hit to the salary cap at $564,540, so the one-for-one deal is solid.
While I completely understand the level of talent the Yankees acquired with this deal, this trade hurt the most. I had liked what I had seen of all of these prospects, especially Flores, but even Pérez and Sánchez had shown a lot of promise in Tampa this season.
The way I view this move is that they were making room for other talent to shine within the system. Flores is an easy fit for Pittsburgh with their former #1 overall pick, Henry Davis, really struggling at the plate, but it’s kind of crazy to think that a JuCo kid that went undrafted has the potential to be the #1 backstop ahead of a top pick in the prior draft. A lot of that speaks to the quality of talent that Flores is, but also is kudos to the Yankees scouting team under Damon Oppenheimer. A lot of this trade deadline is, to be fair.
Pérez and Sánchez have the potential to be very good pieces in the future, but I struggle to project Sánchez favorably given what I have seen. Sánchez had a relatively high K rate (23.4%) but also worked a lot of walks (12.6%). He also had a slash of .281/.373/.438/.811 in Low-A Tampa with a 129 wRC+.
Pérez had a lot of commonalities at the plate with Sánchez in that he also worked a lot of walks (17.9%) and had a moderately high K rate (19.5%), slashing .209/.369/.236/.604 with a 91 wRC+. He was by far a defense-first catcher, and that’s mostly what the Pirates are getting here.
For those not familiar with the headlining piece of the return, Rafael Flores was a 2022 undrafted free agent out of Rio Hondo Junior College in California. Between AA and AAA this season, Flores played in 97 games, batting a combined .279/.351/.475/.825 with a wRC+ of 141.
This trade can be graded a B-, because while Bednar will be a restricted free agent that will likely end up in arbitration, at the end of the day, he may end up being a “rental”. Most of what the Yankees are paying for in prospects was with Flores, and he seemed to be lined up to be Wells’ backup in the Bronx this September. It’s too early to properly project how the other two prospects in the deal will perform. The Yankees are only taking on $1.87M in contract responsibility in 2025.
Roc Riggio, aside from having an incredible baseball name, has been one of the most fun baseball players to watch in a while. Riggio was acquired in 2023 as a 4th round selection out of Oklahoma State. He struggled in his first few games with the org., spending 22 games between FCL and Tampa, batting under the Mendoza line. However, his grit while on defense was what caught my attention. Riggio’s MLB comparison is frequently Dustin Pedroia, and between the lefty bat and that aforementioned grit, I totally see it. 2025 has been his best season yet, despite starting the year on the IL because of a wrist injury. Riggio has spent the bulk of the season in AA Somerset, where he batted .261/.335/.542/.877.
Shields was a teammate of Riggio’s in AA Somerset and was one of their more consistent starters. The lefty thrower held a 3 ERA throughout much of 2025, along with a 1.23 WHIP, and he’s roughly held the same kind of stats throughout his career. Shields was originally an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of UMass, as he is a Boston native.
This trade can be graded an A, given Riggio will likely land a starting second-baseman role with the Rockies since he currently has no path considering the performance that Jazz Chisholm, Jr. has been producing in the Bronx. Shields is more minor league depth and may end up as a back-end starter or long reliever type.
The New York Yankees today announced that they have acquired minor league outfielder Wilberson De Peña and international bonus pool money from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for INF Oswald Peraza.
I think it’s safe to say that everyone reading this knows very well who Peraza is, so let’s discuss the return in this trade.
The 18-year-old prospect played for the DSL Angels in both 2024 and 2025 with exceptionally consistent stats: 226/.340/.394/.734. De Peña hit his first professional home run, plus 3 more, this season as he appears to have discovered some pop in his bat, while reducing his walk rate. De Peña hit 6 doubles and a triple this year in addition to those 4 homers, compared to a double and a triple and no home runs last season.
This trade can be graded as an A+ because Peraza truly had no home in the Bronx, as awful as that may be to write. He proved that he was more qualified than Volpe for the starting shortstop role in 2023, but they went with the kid from Jersey over the Venezuelan for reasons we may never know. Peraza may be more bench depth with Zach Neto at SS and Yoan Moncada at third, but that’s for the Angels to decide.
This is also a pretty cut-and-dry trade as no prospects were dealt.
This trade feels like an A+ in the respect that Pereira has the opportunity to play every day with the Rays and will be closer to home if he’s assigned to the big league club, and Caballero will be an upgrade over what they already have with Oswaldo being on the IL considering the utility and speed.
This trade was quite a haul, as one would expect, considering what Doval can potentially bring to the table. With the bullpen completely gassed, Doval can potentially be inserted in as set-up man, closer, etc. Truly however Aaron Boone sees fit.
Jesús Rodríguez and Trystan Vrieling were the headliners in this trade, and in my opinion, more the former than the latter. Rodríguez has become quite the utility player over the past few years with the Yankees, as he has developed into another Oswaldo Cabrera of sorts. Rodríguez can play every position on the diamond except for second base and pitcher, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he could end up in either spot in a pinch. In 78 games with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rodríguez slashed .317/.409/.430/.839 with 14 doubles, 3 triples and 5 home runs.
Vrieling has had a number of struggles a bit lately in AA Somerset and his stats reflect that. Originally drafted as a 3rd round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, he missed all of 2023 due to injury, and made his professional debut in Double-A in 2024, throwing a 4.58 ERA. This season, he started the season late due to injury, but in Somerset, threw in 46 innings, recording a 4.50 ERA, an 8.22 K/9 and a 3.52 BB/9. There is definite potential, though, and especially of late, and hopefully the Giants can unlock it.
Parks Harber was a 2024 UDFA signing out of North Carolina, but has been one of the more impressive undrafted bats of his class. Harber was promoted at the end of April to High-A Hudson Valley after recording a .304/.422/.551/.973 slash in Tampa but has kept up that performance, hitting over .300 in HV. I mostly saw Harber play first base, but he’s listed as a third baseman in his MiLB profile, and has better stats at 1B (.992 fpct vs .943 fpct at 3B).
17-year-old left-handed pitcher Carlos de la Rosa spent the entire season in the Dominican Summer League, appearing in only 7 games and 22 innings of work. He recorded a 5.32 ERA and has never truly had a quality start with the DSL NYY Yankees, allowing at least 1 run with a handful of hits in an average of 3 IP. That said, he’s striking batters out at an insane rate of 14.73 K/9, with a remarkably low 2.05 BB/9. There’s definitely talent there, but he needs to control his pitches a teeny bit better to truly take advantage of that K/9 and BB/9.
This trade can be graded an A, considering the talent acquired and what was sent to the Giants in return. I think the true headlining prospect in this exchange was Rodríguez, with Harber being a close second. As noted previously, it’s difficult to project future potential in guys like Harber and de la Rosa, especially with the latter, because you don’t know how they will handle the more advanced levels as they progress through the respective team’s system.
Overall, Cashman did exceptionally well in this trade deadline. His work, and that of the scouting team and the player development team deserve kudos by Yankees fans and prospect fans alike. I think no one got “fleeced” too much, per se, and the Yankees didn’t give up any significant names like Jones, Lombard or Lagrange. This all deserves an A-.
What would have made it a little better was to secure players with a little more control and have the sending teams absorb the salary hit, like that of McMahon.
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