MLB Trade Deadline: Yankees could be swing vote in determining World Series

Aroldis Chapman (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)

Even in a season where the New York Yankees are a sputtering sub-500 team, they still hold all the cards.

Sounds crazy right? Let’s take a second to think about it.

The biggest issue plaguing some of the top teams in MLB this year (Cubs, Nationals, Rangers) is the lack of a quality bullpen, which is one commodity the Yankees have a surplus in.

So in a season where the Yankees will most likely miss the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years, they could still have a major impact in the pennant race.

By dealing Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller to one of those contenders, they can basically hand-pick which team they’d like to make the favorite for winning the World Series.

Do they make a deal with Theo Epstein and the Cubs? And in the process bury the hatchet for Theo’s “Evil Empire” moniker while he was the GM of the Red Sox.

Or do they try to undermine their crosstown rival Mets by dealing a bullpen arm to their NL east rival Nationals?

Or will they deal within the American League and face the risk of squaring off against Chapman or Miller multiple times during the regular season?

While the Yankees could get a king’s ransom in return for Andrew Miller, it seems as though Chapman is emerging as the guy who is most likely to be elsewhere at the deadline. Which is ironic because there’s a decent chance Aroldis could resign with the Yankees in the offseason even after being traded.

The Yankees seem to be fine with either Miller or Chapman as the closer, and with so many contenders needing help in the bullpen, Brian Cashman would be foolish not to deal at least one of them by July 31st.