Yankees open to trading Nestor Cortes: report

The MLB trade deadline is one day away, and the Yankees have made Nestor Cortes available, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Per The Post, it’s unclear what kind of return the Yanks would be targeting for Cortes, but St. Louis Cardinals outfielder/infielder Tommy Edman is a player New York likes.

On its face, trading Cortes would seem odd.

Luis Gil could be moved to the bullpen at some point, which would remove a key starter from the rotation and leave the Yanks dangerously thin if they trade Cortes — even with Clarke Schmidt expected back at some point before the end of the season.

However, there are two reasons why dealing Cortes could make sense.

The first is that it is a strong sellers market, due in large part to the fact that only a handful of teams are truly out of playoff contention.

That means the Yanks could possibly get a haul for Cortes, who has another year of team control remaining beyond 2024.

There’s also a scenario where the Yankees trade Cortes in order to add offense, then turn around and trade for another starting pitcher to take his spot.

In any event, if New York does indeed trade Cortes — especially if it’s to St. Louis for a position player — it will be reminiscent of the Jordan Montgomery for Harrison Bader trade that the Yankees swung at the 2022 deadline.