Yankees Reportedly Eye Rockies' Jake Bird Ahead of 2025 MLB Trade Deadline

Having already added Ryan McMahon to boost their production at third base, the New York Yankees may not be done dealing with the Colorado Rockies leading up to the trade deadline on Thursday.

Per The Athletic's Brendan Kuty, the Yankees are keeping an eye on Bird as a trade option for their bullpen.

The Yankees have been connected to virtually every reliever who could get traded by July 31.

Bird is an intriguing trade target because his numbers don't immediately stand out. The 29-year-old has a career ERA of 4.42 and 212 strikeouts in 230.1 innings since making his MLB debut in 2022.

This season has been the best of Bird's career to date. He has a 4.05 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 53.1 innings. His 3.09 FIP suggests that getting out of the hitter-friendly environment in Colorado could improve his numbers, though his home-road splits would indicate that may not be the case.

Opposing hitters have a .915 OPS against Bird in 115 plate appearances away from Coors Field this season. His OPS against at Coors Field is .542 in 117 plate appearances.

Bird does come with the benefit of having multiple years of team control remaining. He can't become a free agent until after the 2028 season.

The Yankees seem almost certain to add at least one pitcher before the deadline. Their bullpen enters Monday with the ninth-worst ERA (4.28) in MLB. Tim Hill, Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz are the only relievers on the roster who have appared in at least 30 games and have a sub-4.00 ERA.

Adding Bird would give Yankees manager Aaron Boone more depth to utilize for the stretch run. Even if he didn't develop into a dominant late-inning arm, finding pitchers who can be counted on to reliably get outs would be a tremendous help.

The Yankees are coming off a win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, but they lost two out of three games in the weekend series. They are 5.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, while still holding a one-game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the No. 1 wild card spot.