{"id":659239,"date":"2026-04-02T17:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/659239\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:50:16","slug":"trade-pitch-sees-yankees-adding-star-of-reliever-in-blockbuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/659239\/","title":{"rendered":"Trade Pitch Sees Yankees Adding Star OF, Reliever in Blockbuster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2217387375-e1775149682238.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"New York Yankees\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Trade idea has Yankees acquiring Lars Nootbaar<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-yankees\/\" title=\"New York Yankees\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212514\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Yankees<\/a> are in win-now mode and will look to bolster their roster throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>New York could look to add some more hitting help and a reliever. MLB analyst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mlb\/fastball\/news\/3-way-too-early-blockbuster-trades-that-would-rock-mlb-pat3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Patrick McAvoy of SI shared a trade pitch<\/a> that sees the Yankees acquiring Lars Nootbaar as part of a three-player trade with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/st-louis-cardinals\/\" title=\"St. Louis Cardinals\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212515\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yankees acquire:<\/p>\n<p>Cardinals acquire:<\/p>\n<p>The proposed deal does make sense for both sides as New York gets a solid outfielder and some bullpen help, while St. Louis gets a young outfielder to replace Nootbaar and rebuild around.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees would acquire Nootbaar, who has one more year of club control, so he could be an impact hitter for a year and a half for New York. Nootbaar could be a solid fourth outfielder and also be a full-time starter next season, assuming Trent Grisham goes elsewhere. Nootbaar hit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/lars-nootbaar-663457\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">.234 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs last season<\/a>. He\u2019s expected to return in late May from injury, so he could be a perfect trade chip at the deadline.<\/p>\n<p>New York would also acquire Romero, who can help shore up the bullpen. The left-hander is in the final year of control, so St. Louis could look to deal him. Romero is a solid mid-leverage reliever, but could even be a high-leverage reliever for the Yankees. He\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/jojo-romero-668941\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">pitched 4 scoreless innings this season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In return, the Yankees would deal Dominguez, who is a top trade chip. Dominguez was optioned to Triple-A, and his future with the team is up in the air. With the Cardinals, Dominguez can be an everyday player and replace the void of Nootbaar.<\/p>\n<p>Analyst Explains Yankees-Cardinals Trade<\/p>\n<p>The bold trade between the Yankees and Cardinals appears to be a win-win for both sides and does make sense.<\/p>\n<p>St. Louis gets younger, while the Yankees get two impactful <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/\" title=\"MLB\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"212516\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB<\/a> players to help them right now, which is what McAvoy reasons for the move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this scenario, the Yankees would trade away a former top prospect in Dom\u00ednguez who didn\u2019t make the club out of camp for an outfielder who has had a lot of success in the majors in Nootbaar and a lefty reliever who logged a 2.07 ERA in 65 appearances in 2025,\u201d McAvoy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mlb\/fastball\/news\/3-way-too-early-blockbuster-trades-that-would-rock-mlb-pat3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2026, he hasn\u2019t allowed an earned run through three appearances. Nootbaar is on the 60-Day Injured List, so this type of deal is contingent on him returning to form once he\u2019s activated. But there will be plenty of time before the August trade deadline for him to show that he can play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, for the trade to happen, Nootbaar will need to be back from injury and show he can play.<\/p>\n<p>New York Wanted Dominguez to Get Everyday Reps<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees optioned Dominguez ahead of Opening Day, and general manager Brian Cashman said it was due to the team wanting to get him everyday reps.<\/p>\n<p>New York had some difficult choices to make, but giving Dominguez regular at-bats is key for his development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would concede it\u2019s in his best interest to be getting everyday reps,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cWe\u2019ll just have to wait and see how the spring shakes out, who\u2019s standing, and then we\u2019ll make the appropriate decisions when we have our meetings close to the end of camp.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dominguez is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=doming002jas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">hitting .294 with 1 home run and 4 RBIs<\/a> in Triple-A.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/coleshelton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more.  <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/coleshelton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Yankees\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Trade idea has Yankees acquiring Lars Nootbaar The New York Yankees are in win-now mode and will&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,4,1690,62,2548,2547,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-659239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-yankees","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkyankees","14":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}