What Joe Girardi thinks Yankees need most on trade-deadline day

CHICAGO — Joe Girardi remembers when the Yankees were the evil empire of the baseball world.

Girardi, now a YES Network game analyst, was a catcher on championship teams when then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was signing the priciest free agents and trading for stars year after year. Girardi was also the Yankees manager when they last won a championship in 2009, the year CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira were brought in to join Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera and company.

Now it’s the Dodgers buying and trading for everyone. They won their second consecutive World Series last October, then spent $309 million in the winter to sign outfielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Diaz.

The Dodgers’ roster is so deep that it began the season with five aces.

Now it’s six.

On Saturday, the rich got richer when the Dodgers surrendered three prospects from their very deep farm system for left-hander Tarik Skubal, the 2024 and 2025 American League Cy Young winner. The trade deadline is Monday at 6 p.m. ET.

“I think what they’re doing is they’re knowing that the rules could be different next year, so they’re going all out,” Girardi told NJ.com Sunday morning before the Yankees edged the Cubs 2-1.

If most owners get their way and the upcoming labor war results in a salary cap, then the Dodgers’ unlimited budget and ability to defer contracts could be over in the next collective bargaining agreement.

Regardless, the Dodgers are going for it again.

“Do the Dodgers necessarily need Skubal?” Girardi said. “They might have concerns about a couple of their starters not being healthy, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, and I’m sure they feel a lot better with Skubal.

“Is it bad for baseball? I think it’s good that every sport has what people might consider a villain. The Yankees were that for a long time.”

The Yankees, who already have four aces, reportedly engaged in trade talks for Skubal, although manager Aaron Boone downplayed that in his Sunday pre-game media session. Boone seemed to hint that the Yankees’ reported interest was just the front office doing due diligence.

Girardi is fine with the Yankees opting not to be all in on Skubal.

“Obviously, you’d love having Skubal, but I don’t think that’s the Yankees’ greatest need,” Girardi said. “I think they need to see if they can add in the bullpen and a little bit offensively.”

Who?

“Mason Miller would be the guy,” Girardi added.

That’s who the Yankees covet most. Miller is the majors’ best closer. Throwing fastballs that reach up to 104 mph, the Padres reliever has converted all 28 save opportunities and pitched to an 0.76 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.

“To me, Miller would change the Yankees more than Skubal,” Girardi said. “Not to knock Skubal, but you can use Miller four or five times in a playoff series. He’d lengthen their bullpen and how they use it.”

Girardi understands why the Yankees have also been hunting a catcher — they’ve received very little offense from the position all season — but he thinks it would be risky bringing in someone to potentially platoon with Austin Wells or even become the starter.

Wells and backup Ali Sanchez are among the best framers in the majors, and that’s a metric the Yankees care a lot about. The catchers, Boone and his coaching staff believe, deserve some credit for Yankees pitchers leading the majors with a 3.28 ERA.

“I’ve always been a firm believer that it’s hard to change catchers in the middle of a season,” Girardi said. “I know how long it takes to get to know a staff. It’s difficult. But the one thing the Yankees have is a bunch of veteran starters. They could call their own games until someone coming in gets adapted.”

The Yankees are interested in two All-Stars who likely won’t be moved. The Rockies plan to keep slugger Hunter Goodman, who has clubbed 33 homers in 102 games, while Orioles switch-hitter Adley Rutschman has been on the injured list since July 19 with left wrist tendon inflammation and likely won’t be activated for another week or two.

The Yankees could also go for a backup such as the Mets’ Luis Torrens to replace Ali Sanchez as their No. 2.

“If I’m going to go after a catcher, he probably needs to have pretty good catching metrics,” Girardi said. “If you can get the total package, that’s the way to go.”

That’s likely not available.

The Yankees took a big step toward lengthening their sagging lineup Sunday by trading for Nationals first baseman Luis Garcia Jr., a left-handed hitter who is batting .283 with 23 homers, 76 RBI and an .887 OPS in 102 games.

Girardi thinks the Yankees need a veteran outfielder, too, someone to be a platoon stopgap until right fielder Aaron Judge and left fielder Cody Bellinger come off the IL, which might not be until September.

“Think about their wins on this trip, one or two runs in all but one,” Girardi said. “I think Belly’s the safest bet coming back. And I really believe that Judge will be back. It’s just when?

“Right now, they’re struggling scoring runs, and you at least want to stay as the top wild card. Boston’s breathing down their neck for that. They need offense.”

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