The Yankees have been a mess at the plate since Judge hit the IL, and everybody on the beat has been saying it out loud for days. Jon Heyman put a number on it Monday: New York's run production is down more than a run per game since their captain went down, which is the kind of stat that gets a front office moving fast at the deadline.
Yankees still working on acquiring bats. Their run production is down more than a run since Judge went on IL
That urgency turned into action within minutes. Ken Rosenthal reported the Yankees were working on a deal for Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos, and it snowballed from there — Jeff Passan confirmed the sides were finalizing an agreement pending medicals, with New York getting the right-handed bat it had been hunting for all summer.
The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire outfielder Heliot Ramos from the San Francisco Giants, sources tell ESPN. Yankees have been seeking right-handed bats, and if the deal clears medicals, Ramos will provide it. @Ken_Rosenthal first linked Ramos to New York.
Ramos, 26, was an All-Star in 2024 and this year has been hitting.264 with 9 home runs while working back from a quad injury, and he's been especially dangerous against lefties — exactly the kind of matchup-proof bat a lineup missing Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger desperately needs. His opposite-field pop also plays well at Yankee Stadium, where the short porch in right turns doubles into homers.
The cost wasn't nothing. Mark Feinsand reported left-hander Henry LaLane, New York's No. 5 prospect, as the headline piece going back to San Francisco, and shortly after added that infielder Kaeden Kent — the Yankees' No. 13 prospect and son of Hall of Famer Jeff Kent — was also included in the deal.
As I reported on @MLBNetwork, Kaeden Kent is expected to be included in the Yankees' deal for Heliot Ramos, per source.
LaLane is a 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 lefty who's reestablished himself as a legit arm after battling shoulder issues, while Kent has been more of a contact-over-power infielder in the low minors — a fair price for a win-now team staring at a last-place offense since mid-June. Giving up two top-13 prospects at the deadline is the kind of move that only makes sense if the front office genuinely believes the lineup is broken right now, not eventually.
This isn't the only bat the Yankees added before Monday's deadline either, which tells you how alarmed they were about scoring runs down the stretch. With Judge, Stanton and Bellinger all still weeks away, Ramos is being asked to stabilize things immediately — and how fast he does that will say a lot about whether this front office panicked or fixed the problem.