The 2025 season has not been ideal so far for the New York Yankees. The 2025 team has been devastated by injuries for much of the year and now finds itself at 58-49 and clinging to a Wild Card spot. One of the latest health setbacks for this roster has been to reliable starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt, who tore his ulnar collateral ligament and needed Tommy John surgery.
While Max Fried and Carlos Rodon are an elite one-two punch in the starting rotation, this unit is painfully thin now. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter, therefore, is suggesting that the Yankees make a bold deal to become an American League contender again, but it’s not going to come without a cost.
Reuter believes New York needs to trade one of their top prospects, Everson Pereira, for Chicago White Sox starter Adrian Houser, explaining why the 32-year-old right-hander would be an ideal fit on the Yankees’ roster.
“With a 4-8 record in their last 12 games and an injury to superstar Aaron Judge, there have been some rumblings that the Yankees might opt for ‘soft buying’ rather than aggressively pursuing upgrades beyond the moves they've already made to acquire Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario.
Houser has been a pleasant surprise for the White Sox with a 2.10 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 68.2 innings over 11 starts, and playing on a one-year deal, he is among the most obvious trade chips in baseball. Adding him would help ease the loss of Clarke Schmidt and shore up the back end of the rotation.”
The pushback on adding a player like Houser is that this season has been an outlier for him with the White Sox. It’s never easy playing for Major League Baseball’s most storied franchise, and plenty of elite pitchers have not been able to handle the pressure in the Bronx.
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Still, considering that there really isn’t a path for Everson Pereira to play on this roster, a deal like this could be worth it. A playoff rotation of Max Friend, Carlos Rodon, an in-form Luis Gil, and Adrian Houser is on paper intimidating. Combine that unit with one of the best offenses in the league, and the Yankees could be a force to be reckoned with once again in October.
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