As the July 31 non-waiver trade makes its way toward us, the Yankees, despite being seven games below .500 since the start of June, find themselves still in contention for a playoff spot. Even though the Yankees are constructed for the long-term, that means they may be positioned as buyers. Speaking of which ...
#Yankees, #Athletics discussing Yonder Alonso, sources confirm. @Ken_Rosenthal reported on activity between the teams yesterday. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 18, 2017
The Yankees could indeed use some help at first base. This season, Yankee first basemen have combined to hit .208/.295/.391. That's mostly the work of Chris Carter, whom the team recently released. In normal times, Greg Bird would be the go-to at the position, but he could miss the remainder of the season after undergoing ankle surgery.
That brings us to Yonder Alonso. The A's 30-year-old first baseman undertook some swing changes coming into the season, and thus far he's put up an impressive line of .268/.366/.555 (148 OPS+) with 21 homers in 83 games. While those swing changes are noted, those numbers are well out of step with the remainder of Alonso's career (lifetime OPS+ of 103 coming into 2017), so the Yankees would need to be confident that his 2017 level of performance is sustainable.
In terms of making a trade work, the Yankees of course have plenty of long-term assets in the system, and that's what the (perpetually?) rebuilding A's want.