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Aaron Boone walks to the mound.

Despite dealing with injuries to their starting rotation left and right, the New York Yankees still sit atop the American League East with a record of 24-17. First, it was Gerrit Cole, then it was Luis Gil, and most recently, Marcus Stroman is being sent to the Injured List. Luckily for the Yankees, they have hit on free agent signing Max Fried, who has been the best pitcher in all of MLB.

If they want to repeat as American League Champions and return to the World Series, New York will have to make a move for a starting pitcher either now or towards the MLB trade deadline.

In a recent trade idea, the Yankees are involved in a deal with the Atlanta Braves that sends Atlanta a top-five home run hitter, Trent Grisham, in return for surprise strikeout artist Grant Holmes.

Trent Grisham, the Unsung Hero

There’s no doubt the Yankees’ lineup has been one of the best in baseball, especially with the feats that Aaron Judge does on a nightly basis. Still, New York has also seen solid contributions from other hitters like Austin Wells, Paul Goldschmidt’s resurgence, and an unlikely hero in Trent Grisham.

In 34 games this season, Grisham is having the best offensive performance of his career. He is hitting .288 with 12 home runs, a 1.036 OPS, and he’s walking more/striking out less.  Now this provides the Yankees with a great opportunity to sell high on Grisham, who is bound to come back down to earth.

The Case for Grant Holmes

Meanwhile, down in Atlanta, starter Grant Holmes is also off to a solid start this season as he’s been propelled into the Braves rotation. In 45.2 innings as a starter, Holmes has 44 strikeouts.  Aside from Fried, Carlos Rodon, who has been iffy of late, and Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees don’t have many other options for starters. The Will Warren experiment isn’t working out, and trading for a formidable arm seems like the most logical option.

The Braves are also strongly in the market for a corner outfielder, as Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return looms, they still have the left field spot to fill. Former Yankee Alex Verdugo is currently patrolling that position. However, his bat does not provide enough power for him to be a legitimate threat at the plate.

Holmes would be the perfect third-fourth rotation option for New York as they get things settled with the rest of the pitchers in the rotation. Luis Gil is expected to return within the next couple of months, and the hope is that the Marcus Stroman IL stint is merely precautionary.

The bottom line is that the Yankees’ rotation has been hampered with injuries, and reinforcements are needed now. As noted prior, they are sitting in first place in the AL East, but that may not be for long if they keep dealing with inconsistent outings from starters not named Max Fried. Keep the Yankees in mind as the trade deadline approaches, as one of the more active teams looking for a starter.

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