Pirates' Oneil Cruz Reportedly Interests Yankees amid Eugenio Suarez, MLB Trade Rumors

The New York Yankees have reportedly held talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates regarding outfielder Oneil Cruz "and some others," according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but Heyman added that the asking price is said to be "steep."

Hiles also noted that the Pirates "don't expect to trade Cruz before this year's deadline."

The Yankees are among the teams who have been linked to Arizona Diamondbacks' third baseman Eugenio Suárez, with the team clearly in the market for another slugger.

While Cruz can't match Suárez's power—the Arizona slugger has 36 homers this year and had 30 or more in six of the past seven non-COVID seasons—he's only 26 and has tantalizing tools.

That hasn't always translated into consistent production, however. He's offered a mixed bag in 2025, with a .219 batting average and .319 OPS, though he's also hit 16 homers and 40 RBI, scored 50 runs, stolen 33 bases and has a .419 slugging percentage. His .739 OPS isn't terribly far off his career mark (.758).

Whether it's Suárez, Cruz, another bat or improvements to the pitching staff, however, it would be shocking if the Yankees didn't make some sort of splash ahead of the trade deadline. The team is now 56-46 on the season and has fallen 4.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, losing six of the past seven games they've played against their rivals in the past month alone.

Since June 13, the Yankees are just 14-21.

So some sort of spark is needed. It seems unlikely it will come in a trade for Cruz, but the Yankees are almost assuredly going to be major buyers in the coming days.