SAN DIEGO — If you’re trying to trade for a player who has requested to be traded from his current team, you want to make sure he actually wants to play for your team.
People around the Yankees that NJ Advance Media has spoken with since the start of the MLB Winter Meetings believe that Bryan Reynolds would, in fact, want to play for the Yankees, if general manager Brian Cashman could coax the Pirates to trade him to the Bronx. Over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey reported that Reynolds had asked that the Pirates trade him when contract extension talks hit an impasse.
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It’s unclear whether the Yankees would meet Pittsburgh’s surely high asking price for the 27-year-old Reynolds — a switch-hitting former All-Star who would fill a need for the Yankees in left field and who has another three years of team control remaining. But the teams have hooked up for a pair of trades since 2021, landing starting pitcher Jameson Taillon and reliever Clay Holmes in the Bronx in separate pacts. The Yankees and the Pirates spoke about Reynolds prior to last year’s trade deadline.
Another possible motivator for the Yankees to pursue Reynolds is the feeling around the organization that free agent Andrew Benintendi, who grew up in Ohio, didn’t exactly love the Big Apple lifestyle after the Yankees acquired him from the Royals at the trade deadline last year. He’s lived in St. Louis, and some in the organization believe he might prefer to sign with the Cardinals or the Astros. Whether or not Benintendi enjoyed calling New York City home, the Yankees were happy with his production, work ethic and how he integrated into the clubhouse until a broken hamate bone ended his season Sept. 2.
A source told NJ Advance Media that the Yankees, as of Monday, have kept tabs on the market for outfielders Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo via their agent, Scott Boras, but that there hadn’t been much traction on either front. The Yankees currently have Aaron Hicks signed for another three years and $30 million, but the team looked into shedding his contract at the trade deadline and (predictably) couldn’t find any takers.
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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.
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