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The New York Yankees are officially trade-deadline sellers. They announced as much by shipping hard-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs on Monday, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball.

It’s an unfamiliar position for the big-spending Yanks, who are typically in the business of adding veteran pieces and keeping the switch flipped to “win now.” 

If the Chapman deal is any indication, however, New York can sell with the best of them.

In exchange for the Cuban southpaw, who will become a free agent after the season, the Yankees will receive prospects Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford as well as big league pitcher Adam Warren, according to to Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. 

The Yankees inquired about injured outfielder Kyle Schwarber, according to Julie DiCaro of 670 The Score, but were rebuffed. Still, this is a superlative haul, especially when you compare it to what New York gave up to acquire Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds in December.

Torres—a 19-year-old shortstop and the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect, according to Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter—is the main piece. He’s hitting .275 with nine home runs and 19 stolen bases in 94 games at High-A and possesses an “advanced bat and potential for solid tools across the board,” according to MLB.com‘s scouting report.

McKinney, the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect, according to Reuter, is a 21-year-old outfielder and 2013 first-round pick who hit .300 with an .825 OPS between High-A and Double-A last season.

Warren, a 28-year-old right-hander who the Yankees shipped to Chicago over the winter in the Starlin Castro swap, did not pitch well for the Cubs, with a 5.91 ERA in 35 innings. But he posted a 3.29 ERA in 131.1 innings last season for New York and could slot into a middle-relief role upon his return to the Bronx.

Finally, there’s Crawford, a speedy outfielder and 2012 11th-round pick who’s swiped 22 bases in 83 games at High-A this season.

To recap: The Yankees received two of the Cubs’ top 10 prospects plus an MLB-ready reliever and one more young body for a few months of Chapman.

Here’s a Torres highlight reel for forward-gazing Yankees fans:

Yes, Chapman will make the Cubs an even more dangerous contender, as yours truly opined. The Yankees, however, come out looking like winners on this one.

In December, New York bought low on Chapman. A deal between the Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers had fallen apart amid domestic violence allegations that ultimately led to a 30-game suspension for Chapman. 

The Yankees swooped in and sent a four-player package to Cincinnati that included right-handers Rookie Davis and Caleb Cotham and infielders Eric Jagielo and Tony Renda, none of whom currently rank among the Reds’ top 10 prospects, per MLB.com. 

Gauging the future of minor leaguers is always tricky, but when you stack those packages next to each other, it appears New York flipped Chapman for a far shinier return. JJ Cooper of Baseball America shares that view:

It’s not as though the Yankees are suddenly hosed in the late innings, either. They still have lefty Andrew Miller, who sports a 1.45 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 43.1 innings and should slide capably back into the closer slot. Behind him, there’s right-hander and three-time All-Star Dellin Betances (2.57 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 49 innings).

Miller is locked up for the next two seasons and Betances won’t hit the market until 2020, so unless the Yankees opt to trade one or both, the back end of their bullpen will be formidable for the foreseeable future.

It’s still unlikely the Yankees will kick off a full-scale fire sale. They’re hanging around the fringes of the playoff picture at 50-48 entering play on Monday, and an everything-must-go sell-a-thon simply isn’t the Yankee way.

“What has to be noticed here, unlike very few teams, what we’ve done, is we can’t rebuild here,” team president Randy Levine said in December, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. “That’s not what we’re about. We’re trying to win every year and we’re trying to get younger and transition.”

Expect New York to dangle veteran right fielder Carlos Beltran, another impending free agent and established postseason performer who could yield a rich return from an offense-hungry contender. 

After that, the Yanks can sit back, content in the knowledge that they’ve strengthened their farm system and will have money to spend in the potentially ludicrously loaded 2018 free-agent class.

Chapman and his triple-digit heater will be a short-term boon for the Cubs. If you take the long view, however, this trade tilts toward New York.

Turns out, the Yanks are pretty good at this selling thing.

All statistics current as of July 25 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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The New York Yankees are reportedly planning on keeping left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Miller as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Continue for updates.

Yankees May Trade Aroldis Chapman Instead of Miller

Saturday, July 23

While the Bronx Bombers could trade both southpaws from the back end of their bullpen, Rosenthal noted they are “telling clubs that they are close to trading [Aroldis] Chapman” while also reporting the Miller news.

Miller has been the subject of trade rumors for much of July, and two of the top National League contenders have been on the list of pursuers.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported on July 7 the Chicago Cubs had the reliever as one of their primary targets, although Julie DiCaro of 670 The Score indicated the National League Central leaders weren’t interested in parting ways with slugger Kyle Schwarber in a potential deal.

It makes sense the Cubs are intrigued by Miller since they ranked a middling 15th in the league in bullpen ERA entering play Saturday, per ESPN.com. While Chicago already added lefty Mike Montgomery to its bullpen via trade, he allowed a three-run homer in his team debut on Saturday during a 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Elsewhere, Bill Ladson of MLB.com reported on July 14 the Washington Nationals were interested in Miller. The bullpen is actually one of Washington’s strengths (tops in baseball in bullpen ERA), but Miller would give it another formidable option late in games.

Despite the rumors, the Yankees are apparently planning on keeping Miller in their bullpen. He has been in the league since 2006 and pitched for the Detroit Tigers, then-Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles before joining New York for the 2015 campaign.

He appeared to have turned the corner in pinstripes and is well on his way to posting an ERA of sub-2.00 for the first time in his career in 2016:

As if the resurgence in the Bronx for Miller wasn’t enough, he will not be an unrestricted free agent until 2019, per Spotrac. That means New York could still make a postseason run in the next couple of years with Miller as a bullpen anchor even if it isn’t in prime position to compete in 2016 from fourth place in the American League East.

However, that extended team control could also give New York more leverage in a possible trade, and Miller is 31 years old. He may only have a limited window of his prime remaining, and the Yankees could theoretically receive a favorable package in any deal were they to make the move during that opening.

Alas, it seems as if New York is more interested in keeping Miller around as a critical piece of its bullpen for 2016 and beyond.

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For the New York Yankees, August 1 is looking less like the trade deadline and more like a sell-by date. By now, there’s little question that selling on the summer market is what they should do.

Rather, a better question is how much they’ll be able to sell.

That may be the question the Yankees are asking themselves. They’re not approaching August 1 with any positive momentum. A 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon dropped their record to 44-46. They’re 9.5 games out of first in the American League East and 5.5 games out in wild-card race.

Of course, the company line has been defiant. Yankees president Randy Levine called talk of the team selling “nonsense” in a late-June press conference. His tune hasn’t changed much.

“All the talk of buying or selling is speculation at this point,” Levine told Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com on Friday. “There’s two weeks to go, and at that time we’ll make a decision. You can’t make any decisions until you have specific transactions in front of you.”

He added: “We believe in this team.”

But Levine may not be speaking for the whole brain trust when he says “we.” Matthews heard from a source that while Levine and club owner Hal Steinbrenner don’t want to give up, general manager Brian Cashman and the rest of the baseball operations department see things differently.

Ownership can believe all it wants, but it seems the front office has been reading the writing on the wall for a while now.

The Yankees are not without their strengths, namely the late-inning relief trio of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, which has been as advertised. But their weaknesses loom larger. They have an offense that ranked 11th in the American League in runs entering Saturday and a starting pitching staff that ranked 11th in ERA. This is not a team that’s only one or two pieces away from taking off.

If the Yankees do as they should in the coming weeks, they’ll move a couple of pieces. In his latest video report, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports indicates the list begins with Chapman and right fielder Carlos Beltran. To which we say, “Duh and/or hello.” 

Both Chapman and Beltran will be free agents this offseason, and both have significant trade value. Chapman is still pumping triple-digit fastballs and has a 2.39 ERA with a 40-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 26.1 innings. Beltran is fresh off an All-Star berth and is rocking an .872 OPS with 19 homers. This is an arm and a bat that should interest contenders.

But after those two, it gets complicated.

Mark Teixeira and Ivan Nova are the Yankees’ other two free-agents-to-be, and neither has much trade value. Teixeira has a bad knee and a .568 OPS. Nova has a 5.18 ERA. The Yankees might be able to move either of them, but not for any helpful talent.

If loading up on helpful talent is what New York’s baseball operations department has in mind, it will have to jettison some players it controls beyond 2016. That’s a lengthy list, but it’s a mixed bag in terms of trade value and trade availability.

The two pieces everyone will want are Miller and Betances, who are controlled through 2018 and 2019, respectively. If the Yankees make them available, they should find some nice prospect packages.

But Rosenthal says they don’t want to trade Miller. If that’s true, it’s hard to imagine them wanting to deal Betances. If there’s this much consternation among the Yankees about punting on 2016, they’re not going to punt on any future seasons. If they’re going to sell, they’re probably only going to sell players they think can help them more in trades now than on the field later.

This could mean putting Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and CC Sabathia on the block and see if they can interest any teams looking for a non-rental starter. The Yankees control Pineda and Eovaldi through 2017. And as Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors observed, Sabathia’s 2017 option seems likely to vest.

But how much value do these three have? Pineda and Eovaldi both have ERAs over 5.00, and the latter has since been moved to the bullpen. Sabathia was doing well for a while but is now back to looking past his prime with 25 earned runs allowed in his last 28.1 innings.

Rather than real prospects, trades of these three would likely only bring back some payroll relief. And with this winter’s free-agent class due to be weak, Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com is right to wonder what the point would be:

The Yankees’ other controllable assets are also short on trade value. Brian McCann has solid numbers but also $34 million left on his contract after 2016. Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley also have a fair amount of money left on their deals and don’t have solid numbers. Then there’s Alex Rodriguez, whose trade value is roughly equivalent to that of your humble narrator.

Once again, deals of any of these guys would probably have to be more about payroll relief than acquiring talent. Since the Yankees would have few free agents to reinvest that money in this winter, they’d have a hard time repairing a broken roster for 2017.

That would be fine if they had it in mind to go for a full-on Chicago Cubs– or Houston Astros-style rebuild. But they clearly don’t, nor should they. With a non-terrible farm system—Baseball America ranked it No. 17 at the start of the year—and a good amount of flexibility already lined up for an epic free-agent class in 2018, New York doesn’t need to think about starting from scratch.

There will be talk of the Yankees holding a fire sale in the coming weeks, but that’s probably not going to happen. Chapman and Beltran are likely goners, but there may not be many takers for their other free-agents-to-be. And since only Miller and Betances have any value among their controllable guys, it won’t be surprising if the Yankees hold on to them all and see if they can rebound next season.

There’s going to be a sign out front that says, “Sale!” Just don’t expect there to also be one that says, “Everything Must Go!”

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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With the New York Yankees (45-46) continuing to fall in the playoff standings, Aroldis Chapman’s impending free agency makes him an attractive trade chip.  

Continue for updates. 

Nationals’ Prospects Reportedly Being Scouted by Yankees

Monday, July 18

Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reported the Yankees are scouting the Washington Nationals Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and will be headed to Washington this week. 

The New York Post‘s George A. King III reported earlier in the day that the Nationals had scouted Chapman.

Chapman Linked to Multiple Teams

Monday, July 18

King reported the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers have scouted Chapman.

Yankees’ Struggles Open Door for Chapman Deal

Saturday, July 16

Per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Yankees “will trade” Chapman “if things don’t turn” around before the August 1 non-waiver trade deadline. 

After being suspended for the first 30 games of this season for violating MLB‘s domestic-violence policy, Chapman returned looking like the dominant closer he’s been throughout his big league career. 

In 28 games, he’s recorded 18 saves with 40 strikeouts, seven walks and 18 hits allowed in 27.1 innings. 

Entering play Saturday, the Yankees are 8.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East and 5.5 games out of the second wild-card spot with six teams ahead of them. 

This is the year when all of those big contracts the Yankees handed out years ago backfire on them. Mark Teixeira has struggled to stay healthy, Alex Rodriguez has largely been relegated to bench duty lately with a .260 on-base percentage, and Brett Gardner isn’t hitting for power or stealing bases like he once did. 

CC Sabathia has been effective in the starting rotation, but he and Masahiro Tanaka are the only regular starters with an ERA under 5.11. 

Chapman makes sense as a trade chip because he’ll be a free agent and will command a huge salary in the offseason. But his potential value doesn’t seem to be high because an interested team would only get him for two months and a potential playoff run. 

Some contending teams do need relief help, but there’s a ceiling to what they should pay for someone who is likely to throw 30 innings the rest of this season.

But the Yankees are a smart organization capable of maximizing a return on investment, so their scouting staff will examine any potential prospects the team can get in a deal to make a trade worth their time. 

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There are some skills Alex Rodriguez will never lose. He’ll always be able to tell us how good he is, how hard he works, how great he can be.

“I’ve been working really hard, tweaking, running and training,” he told reporters, including Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “My time will come.”

Sorry, Alex. Your time has come…and gone.

I know, it’s dangerous to call time on fading stars. David Ortiz was done in April and May 2009, except that he’s made five more All-Star teams since then, was a World Series MVP in 2013 and is now a 40-year-old marvel. Ichiro Suzuki was on the slow road to 3,000 hits until this year’s revival at age 42.

A-Rod himself was done three years ago because of injuries and issues, body parts that wouldn’t work and a baseball legal system that did. Then came last year, with 33 home runs and even a mention on one MVP ballot.

I try never to forget the words of Sparky Anderson, who liked to say “quality can always return, but mediocracy [his word!] never was.”

Rodriguez was quality, even if it was medically enhanced quality. He can always return, and a contract that guarantees him another $21 million next year suggests he will return, at least in body.

But why? To chase home run numbers that will forever be tainted? To prove he can still be a difference-maker for a team that wants to move past him?

He’ll be 41 later this month, and he looks every day of it.

“Me being productive in the middle of the lineup is going to help us get to the postseason,” Rodriguez told Feinsand in one of a few “exclusive” interviews during his midsummer media campaign.

It’s nice he still believes that (if he really does). Yankees management obviously isn’t buying in, at least not to the part about him being productive.

The Yankees have played 10 games this month, and Rodriguez started just one of them. Three were in San Diego, where the Yankees had no need for a designated hitter, but that leaves seven other games he could have played.

It’s true that part of the reason was Carlos Beltran’s sore hamstring, which pushed Beltran to the DH spot. But as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman admitted when the month began, the bigger issue was A-Rod’s OPS against right-handed pitchers.

“We’ve got to get this 2016 going,” Cashman told reporters, including Anthony Rieber of Newsday. “We’re struggling. It’s almost July. So we had a meeting the other day, and one of the things we came up with was obviously Alex, I think, is a .580 OPS against right-handed pitching this year.”

It was actually .584 at the time, and it’s .570 now, and while that’s not the worst in the major leagues, it’s down there in Erick Aybar country. It’s lower than the .598 Omar Infante had when the Kansas City Royals released him on June 21.

Infante is a light-hitting second baseman. A-Rod is a full-time designated hitter (or designated sitter), a guy who doesn’t even carry a glove.

But wait! Feinsand reported in the Daily News that A-Rod took a first baseman’s glove with him when he left for the All-Star break.

Asked by George A. King III of the New York Post whether Rodriguez will ever actually play first base, Cashman responded, “I don’t think anybody knows.”

The Yankees don’t need an aging, slow first baseman with a .570 OPS against right-handers any more than they need a DH with a .570 OPS against right-handers.

“Everybody slows down with age,” said one American League scout who saw the Yankees recently. “And he’s slowed down. Is there hope? I think there’s a chance. It’s a slim chance, but I don’t think anybody expected him to do what he did last year.”

The $21 million he’s due next year probably guarantees Rodriguez won’t leave on his own, no matter how bad it gets. He no doubt dreams of a revival that will see him go out next year the way his rival (and onetime friend) Ortiz is going out this season, or at least the way his other rival (and perhaps onetime friend) Derek Jeter did in 2014.

The tougher question is whether it could get bad enough that the Yankees swallow that sunk money and release A-Rod before his contract runs out. He probably would be done then, because even with the Yankees paying the freight, it’s hard to see another team taking him.

Even the chase for some kind of home run history—he’s stuck on 695 home runs, with none in his last 41 plate appearances—hardly seems to matter.

Rodriguez remains in pinstripes for now, battling for at-bats with Aaron Hicks and Rob Refsnyder, two guys with just a small fraction of the ability A-Rod once displayed.

Even Hicks, a career .220 hitter with a lower OPS (.562) than Rodriguez has this season, has seemed like a better option to the Yankees.

As the scout said, everybody slows down with age. In the case of Alex Rodriguez, his time has come.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira reached a notable milestone Sunday, swatting his 400th career home run during his team’s game against the San Diego Padres.

Major League Baseball’s official Twitter account broke the news after Teixeira’s solo shot off Carlos Villanueva in the top of the eighth inning:

Teixeira’s achievement was a welcome bright spot amid what was otherwise a forgettable day to compound a disappointing 2016 campaign. The three-time All-Star raised his average to .188 with his sixth homer of the year after striking out in each of his three prior at-bats.

Carlos Beltran, Teixeira’s teammate, is another switch-hitter who has reached the 400-homer mark this year, which at this juncture has more utility for future trivia than the club’s circumstances.

Teixeira’s power from both sides of the plate throughout his MLB career has been impressive in spite of his slumping form this year. Sunday’s homer was more of a celebration of Teixeira’s legacy, which has paralleled how the Yankees’ collective fortune has been this season.

The Bronx Bombers entered Sunday’s contest in the bottom third of the majors in batting average, runs scored and slugging percentage, thus not living up to their previously earned moniker.

It’s going to take a strong effort for Teixeira to rise above the Mendoza Line—and an even stronger one for the Yankees to band together and make a charge after the impending All-Star break. At 39-41 entering Sunday’s game, New York was fourth in the American League East and well outside the AL playoff picture.

For the proud franchise rife with championship trophies, accomplished players like Teixeira need to emulate their elite form of yesteryear for the Yankees to salvage their 2016 campaign.

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NEW YORK — In the seats behind home plate, scouts from rival teams ogle the relief pitchers the New York Yankees haven’t yet decided to sell. Just the other day, the Chicago Cubs had three scouts at Yankee Stadium, enough so each could have focused in on just one of the late-inning relievers who could change the trade market and perhaps Cubs history.

On the concourses behind the seats, racks full of T-shirts with the “No Runs DMC” logo the Yankees created to market those relievers sit waiting for customers. But instead of buying shirts honoring Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, the few fans who are shopping seem content with their aging Derek Jeter jerseys.

This is where the Yankees stand at midseason 2016, with players more marketable to other teams than to their own fans. This is what the Yankees have become, a tradition-rich franchise stuck with too few current stars their fans are drawn to.

All-Star voting isn’t always the best indicator of stardom, but it’s worth noting that in 21 of the 22 seasons between 1993 and 2014, the Yankees had at least one player in the American League starting lineup. In 10 of the 11 years between 2002 and 2012, they had two or more starters.

Last year, they had none. That’s almost certain to be the case again this season, with only Brian McCann (a distant fourth among catchers) and Carlos Beltran (10th among outfielders) even making it onto MLB‘s latest voting update.

Just five years ago, four of the nine players voted in for the AL played for the Yankees. Jeter and Alex Rodriguez missed the game because of injuries, but Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano both started.

Five years later, only A-Rod remains, and he can barely make the Yankees lineup. The others have gone. Only their replica jerseys remain.

Walk around Yankee Stadium, and you’re just as likely to see a Cano jersey as one honoring any current Yankee.

No current Yankee made the list of the top 20 baseball jerseys sold last year. Just four years ago, Jeter topped the list, and fellow Yankees Ichiro Suzuki and Cano made the top 10.

You can argue it doesn’t matter. You can argue that the standard of stardom the Yankees set through the first decade of this century was a real anomaly, never possible to match.

Teams go through cycles, and the Yankees themselves have been through them before. They didn’t have an All-Star starter from 1989-92, the only other time in the last 45 years they went consecutive seasons without one.

All-Stars and attendance and jersey sales are byproducts of success, and this year’s Yankees team remains below .500 as the midpoint of the season approaches. The Yankees have played just well enough to stay on the fringes of the race—they began play Wednesday 3.5 games out of a wild-card spot—but they’ve been bad enough that a midseason sell-off remains possible.

Chapman, Miller and Beltran could all be traded if the Yankees determine they’re better off trying to retool for the future. They do have players of value.

“We have stars,” said Betances, who has become one of them.

If fans could vote for All-Star pitchers (who are chosen instead through player vote and managerial selections), the Yankees’ late-inning trio would no doubt get big support. But as the Cincinnati Reds found out when they had Chapman, it’s tough when your biggest star only pitches in the ninth inning when you have a lead.

Now that’s true for the Yankees.

Their drop-off in star power has been drastic, and as much as the Yankees need wins to stay in the pennant race, they need stars to stay in the race for relevancy.

It’s not just about jerseys and All-Star votes. The Yankees need to sell tickets, and they need to attract eyeballs to television sets so the team-owned YES network can sell advertising.

This year, for the first time in the decade both teams have had their own networks, the New York Mets are topping the Yankees in local ratings, according to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News. The New York Post‘s Richard Morgan reported YES ratings are down 10 percent from last year and nearly 50 percent from their peak.

From 2002-11, Morgan noted, the Yankees regularly averaged 400,000 viewers per game. This season, they were down to 233,403.

Through Tuesday, the Yankees’ average home attendance was 38,022. That’s tied with the Los Angeles Angels atop the American League and sixth-best in baseball. But as Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports pointed out, the Yankees are down 1,800 a game from last year and 8,000 a game from 2010.

Some of those drops are to be expected. The Yankees were coming off their 27th World Series title in 2010; this year, they were coming off two straight seasons missing the playoffs followed by 2015’s one-game playoff cameo.

It’s not just at home. From 2001-15, the Yankees ranked first or second in the American League in road attendance. So far this year, they’re fifth, behind the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and (most surprisingly) the Oakland A’s.

The Yankees were first in the majors in road attendance (35,512 average) in 2014, helped by the Jeter farewell tour. They’re 16th in the majors (29,383) so far this season.

Meanwhile, the Mets made the World Series for the first time in 15 years, grabbing much of New York’s baseball spotlight. With their attractive young rotation and with Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup, the Mets have the type of stars the Yankees normally feature.

Go to a Mets game at Citi Field, and you’ll see fans wearing Cespedes jerseys and Matt Harvey jerseys and Noah Syndergaard jerseys.

Go to a Yankees game, and you still see plenty of people wearing shirts from the past.

“Am I drawn to any of the current players? No,” said Jed Dietrich, a fan looking over the items at one of Yankee Stadium’s souvenir stands. “I grew up on [Don] Mattingly. I understand what they’re trying to do—get rid of the bad contracts and get younger. I think eventually guys like Aaron Judge and Greg Bird will be part of the future.”

For now, Judge remains at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Bird is injured and out for the season. For now, Dietrich still wears Mariano Rivera’s No. 42, and his five-year-old son Sean wears Jeter’s No. 2.

Oh, and he didn’t buy that No Runs DMC shirt, either. Seems the Yankees will have a lot easier time selling Chapman, Miller and/or Betances than they will convincing fans to buy their shirt.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran left the field during Tuesday’s 7-1 loss to the Texas Rangers because of tightness in his right hamstring. An exact return date has yet to be revealed.

Continue for updates.

Beltran Comments on Recovery

Thursday, June 30

ESPN.com’s Wallace Matthews noted that Beltran said his hamstring is feeling better, and although he will take batting practice on Thursday, he is unsure if he will be available to pinch hit against the Texas Ranges. 

Beltran’s MRI Clean, Injury Is Day-to-Day

Tuesday, June 28

MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and Nick Suss reported on Beltran’s exit in the first inning of Tuesday’s contest. Hoch later reported Beltran was dealing with a cramp and noted the results of his MRI, citing Yankees manager Joe Girardi as the source.

Even at the age of 39, Beltran has been New York’s most effective all-around hitter during the 2016 campaign, posting a slash line of .297/.336/.570 with 19 homers and 53 RBI. Unfortunately, his prowess at the plate apparently led to his injury:

At least it doesn’t appear as though the eight-time All-Star’s ailment is too serious. While the Yankees can’t afford to rush him back, Beltran is instrumental to their success, and he needs to be in the lineup to help the Bronx Bombers hang in the playoff hunt.

In addition to being a valuable batter who can hit from both sides of the dish, Beltran, despite not having the physical tools he once did, is a savvy defender whose presence will be missed in the outfield.

Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez could use Beltran’s short-term absence as a catalyst to step up to their potential on offense in the midst of woeful individual performances.

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Hours after the Texas Rangers released Ike Davis from his minor league contract, the first baseman agreed to ink a major league contract with the New York Yankees, according to Today’s Knuckleball’s Jon Heyman. 

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News confirmed the report.   

Following four seasons with the New York Mets, Davis was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates a few months into the 2014 season. While he was afforded the opportunity to shine over the course of 397 plate appearances, he floundered to the tune of a .235 batting average, 10 home runs and 46 RBI. 

The Oakland A’s acquired Davis in a trade with Pittsburgh the following November, but his struggles at the plate continued.

In 74 appearances, he batted just .229 with three homers and 20 RBI. The first baseman was also bothered by a left hip injury that sent him to the 60-day disabled list before he underwent season-ending surgery. 

The Yankees have been dogged by injuries to first basemen Mark Teixeira, Greg Bird, Dustin Ackley and Chris Parmelee already this year, so they’ll hope Davis can at least stay healthy as he tries to recapture some of the 2012 form that saw him blast a career-high 32 home runs. 

But even if Davis does turn back the clock, the Bronx Bombers can’t count on him to produce consistently at the plate. He is a career .239 hitter, and he’s tallied at least 100 strikeouts in three of the four seasons in which he played at least 100 games.

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The New York Yankees boast one of MLB‘s deepest bullpens, and teams are reportedly starting to do their homework on reliever Aroldis Chapman in advance of the July 31 trade deadline.

Continue for updates.  

Cubs Keeping Tabs on Chapman

Sunday, June 12

According to the New York Post‘s George A. King III, the Chicago Cubs sent scout Jason Parks to Yankee Stadium over the weekend to take a look at closer Aroldis Chapman as well as star relief arms Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. 

King added the Yankees “likely will listen on Miller and Chapman. Meanwhile, “dealing Betances also isn’t out of the question” if the team isn’t in prime position to clinch a playoff spot when the trade deadline rolls around. 

The Chicago Sun-Times‘ Gordon Wittenmyer cited a source who said “the Cubs have made it known they’re prepared to strike early to add pitching.”

A four-time All-Star, Chapman has been solid for the Yankees since returning from a 30-game domestic violence-related suspension. Over the course of 15 appearances, he has tallied 11 saves, 21 strikeouts and just three walks while posting an ERA of 1.93. 

But despite the success Chapman has experienced in a small 14-inning sample, the Yankees could conceivably ship him to the Cubs or another interested party and get some return on their investment before he becomes a free agent this winter. 

According to King, “Chapman is making $11.325 million this year, is a free agent following the season and not likely to return to the Yankees.”

As for the Cubs, adding Chapman would bolster an already strong bullpen. Chicago’s relievers rank fourth in the National League with a 3.41 ERA, and their opponents’ batting average of .205 clocks in at No. 2 overall among all NL clubs. 

Reliever Hector Rondon has successfully carried out all 11 of his save opportunities this year while posting a 1.40 ERA, and adding Chapman would give the Cubs a left-handed fireballer to pair with their steady right-handed reliever. 

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