The New York Yankees are fighting for the AL East title with the final two games of the season left to go. While the Yankees haven't been as dominant as they could've been all year, they're still in great shape to make a postseason run once more.
Of course, losing Juan Soto has been a huge blow for the Yankees, as Soto joined the New York Mets in the offseason on a massive contract. However, the Yankees haven't missed Soto that much, thanks to Trent Grisham's career year this season.
But the Yankees nearly didn't benefit from such a dominant year. According to Andy Martino of SNY.tv, the Yankees and Mets discussed a deadline deal that would've sent Grisham to New York for Brett Baty, which, although Baty has been fine, would've been a disaster for the Yankees.
Yankees avoid disastrous deal with Mets at the trade deadline
"One example, according to league sources, was a discussion between the Mets about dealing Trent Grisham for Brett Baty." Martino writes. "The Mets needed a rental center fielder, while the Yankees sought a controllable third baseman and liked Baty's lefty swing."
That potential deadline swap wasn't completed, and instead, the Yankees went after Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies for their controllable third baseman, while the Mets landed on Cedric Mullins for their rental center fielder.
On the season, Grisham has been better than Baty, but looking at the comparisons after the trade deadline, the non-trade has worked out great for the Yankees.
Grisham, since the trade deadline, has hit .223 with an .840 OPS thanks to a strong .492 slugging percentage. In the 49 games since the deadline, the Yankees outfielder has 16 home runs, 40 hits, 34 RBIs, 36 runs scored, and surprisingly, no doubles.
While he hasn't hit a double in the last two months of the season so far for the Yankees, he's still been an incredible hitter, launching 16 homers for the Yankees since they decided not to move on from him at the deadline.
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Meanwhile, Baty, in 43 games, has a strong .308 batting average with an .866 OPS. Both numbers are better than Grisham's totals, which also include a .496 slugging percentage, four points higher than Grisham's slugging percentage.
The big difference between the two is that Baty had just seven home runs compared to Grisham's 16. He also has four doubles, but combined with his homers, Grisham still has him beat on total extra-base hits.
More importantly, Baty only has 16 RBIs in the two months since the deadline. Grisham has more than double Baty's total. Even though Baty has been good for the Mets, the impact of Grisham has been remarkable.
Even though McMahon has a .621 OPS for the Yankees, much lower than what Baty has done since the deadline, the Yankees have still come out on top in this exchange.
Mullins, the player the Mets turned to after the Grisham deal fell through, has hit just .183 with the Mets with a .569 OPS in his 41 games with the team.
The difference between Grisham and Baty isn't a huge one, but the players both teams went after once this deal wasn't completed have highlighted how great a decision it's been for the Yankees not to make this deal.
This trade would've been a disaster for the Yankees, and, fortunately, they didn't swing the deal at the deadline. Even though Baty's been solid, Grisham's importance to the Yankees can't be overstated. Not making this deal has worked out great for the Yankees, as they avoided disaster at the deadline by keeping Grisham on the roster.
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