Yankees remain inactive on trade block while suffering loss to Rays

With the Yankees fresh off another loss and the trade deadline less than 24 hours away, the word “f–k” boomed beyond the parts of the team’s clubhouse that are visible to reporters.

The face behind the voice couldn’t be seen, but the swear underscored the frustrations the Yankees have been feeling. Monday’s series-opener against the Rays, a 5-1 defeat, dropped the team to 55-51 and 3.5 games out of the third Wild Card spot.

“It’s a broken record: we gotta be better,” Aaron Boone said after his team recorded three hits and struck out 12 times. “Gotta be better. It doesn’t get any easier. We’ve dug ourselves a hole, and if we don’t play at a high level, we gotta get there. We’re working our asses off to do it, and that’s all we can keep doing.”

While the Yankees have been shoveling, other teams have been upgrading. That includes two division rivals in possession of Wild Card positions, the Rays and Blue Jays, and the Angels, one of the teams ahead of the Yankees in the chase.

The Cubs, who are .500, have also committed to buying.

The Yankees had not done anything at the time of publication late Monday night. It’s not clear that they will, and it’s not clear what direction they will go in if they do something. They’ve looked more like a team that should sell than a team that should buy, but the former path would admit that the front office doesn’t have much faith in the club it assembled. On the flip side, the market looks much stronger for sellers than it does for buyers.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Yankees tried to find middle ground by adding players with multiple years of control while parting with impending free agents who are making decent money. Wandy Peralta, Harrison Bader and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are a few incumbents who are in walk years that could be of interest to contenders.

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Boone and Yankees players, including team captain Aaron Judge, have publicly avoided campaigning for the organization to buy. Such decisions are “out of my hands,” Judge said.

But the reigning MVP didn’t sign a nine-year deal over the offseason with the intention of playing for a seller, not in the midst of his prime.

“I want to win,” Judge said when asked if he would be disappointed if the Yankees sell. “Whatever gets us closer to being a better team and winning, that’s why I’m here and that’s why everybody in this room is here. We want to win. I don’t know what’s gonna happen and it’s out of our control, but the bottom line is I came here to win, just like a lot of other guys, and that’s what we got to focus on.”

Judge’s use of the phrase “whatever gets us closer” is interesting because, as previously mentioned, there’s only so much the Yankees can do to move the needle in 2023. But parting with a few pieces, even ones with control after this year, could help the Yankees in 2024 and beyond, if not this season.

At this point, however, it’s a matter of wait and see. When the clock strikes 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the Yankees and their fans will know where the decision makers stand — on the deadline and on the season at large.

The uniformed personnel, meanwhile, will try to keep their focus on what’s in front of them.

“We’ll see what they do,” Boone said. “We gotta play better. We know that. I think everyone in that room knows that we’re capable of playing better. And that’s what we have to control right now.”