The Yankees are facing some challenges. The trυth is that the team is only just above.500 and three games shy of a postseason place with just a 30.5 percent probability of securing one (according to FanGraphs), despite the fαct that their top leadership has frequently expressed their desire to win a championship. The Yankees will need to have at least one eye on the future unless something spectacular happens in the days before the August 1 trade deadline.
This would seem to preclude the club from purchasing in any market, let alone the rental market. But given that they are the Yankees, anything might happen, particularly if a player who fits their criteria slips by unnoticed and their price drops. The Mets’ Mark Canha might be one of those players.
Although it’s rυmored that teams have been contacting the Mets about their outfielder/first baseman, he probably won’t draw as much interest as some of the Ohtani-level players available, so the Yankees should still give it a shot. Canha is a rental, but he also has a $11.5 million club option for the next season that, if he has a strong finish, would be worth picking up. Additionally, moving to the Bronx from another part of the city would not be quite the drastic upheaval that a typical trade deadline victim experiences; hence, it is realistic to predict that the current Met would need less time to acclimate.
What would Canha genuinely contribute once she was changed? To begin with, despite being a right-handed swinger, his lifetime wRC+ versus righties is 121 but it is only 110 against southpaws. He is capable of playing against either, and this season, he has hit lefties seven points better (112 vs. 105 wRC+).
Canha might be a choice to replace the starter against lefties given Anthony Rizzo’s recent problems and the fαct that he has played first base more this season than he has since 2019 combined. Despite having a career wRC+ against southpaws that is 11 points lower than that of Rizzo’s, Canha has improved against left-handers this year, and reverse splits are rather uncommon. However, Canha’s corner outfield position would be where he made most of his contributions. In both the previous two seasons and this one, he has spent the most of his time on the left side. The Yankees have struggled from that corner all season, managing an 85 wRC+ there, which ranks fifth-worst in the majors. Canha, on the other hand, would tie for 11th place with a wRC+ of 109.
Canha’s 109 mark would be his lowest since 2017, but his anticipated weighted on-base average (xwOBA) is right in line with what he has accomplished each of the last two seasons, making him something of a buy-low. Although he has never again hit the heights he did in his breakout year of 2019, his current peripherals still place him above average.
Canha is among the finest choices for the Yankees’ one-foot-in, one-foot-out trade deadline strategy this season in certain aspects. They can decide to make him more than just a rental, but they won’t be forced to keep him if he falters in the last stretch. He presumably won’t cost as much as other more manageable deadline additions like young relievers Jason Foley and Alex Lange, to mention just two. The Yankees may be able to maximize this year and the following one if they successfully negotiate agreements for Canha and enough other comparable veterans while retaining their top young players.