According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Yankees are willing to sign two players from the Dodgers’ 40-man roster in exchange for a non-40-man prospect.
The names of the players in the deal are not yet known. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms Rosenthal’s report, adding that the deal, which is still subject to medical review, would send a late-roster pitcher to the Yankees in addition to a 40-man roster candidate. The deal would free up 40 roster spots for Los Angeles’ reported deals for right-hander Joe Kelly and superstar Shohei Ohtani.Although it is unclear which players will change hands as part of the deal, it is hardly surprising that the parties would join forces in such an exchange. After all, the Dodgers’ 40-man roster is currently full, meaning they’ve already had to clear space on the 40-man roster to formally add Kelly and Ohtani. On the other hand, the Yankees just freed up two spots from their 40-man roster in a seven-player trade with the Padres, who brought back star forward Juan Soto. While the additions of both Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham fill out a 40-man roster, that’s more than offset by the departures of right-handers Jhony Brito, Michael King and Randy Vasquez, as well as catcher Kyle Higashioka. A deal between the teams allows the Dodgers to regain some value for players they likely would have parted ways with anyway, while the Yankees look to take advantage of Los Angeles’ roster crisis to rebuild their pitching depth in the aftermath of the agreement with Soto.
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