Brian Cashman keeps doing what he does, and that’s giving the Yankees as many weapons to get wins as he can. Before the All-Star break there was some hype around talks involving Manny Machado, but since the break the Yankees have been linked to a few pitchers. There’a lot to like about both the J.A. Happ trade and the Zach Britton trade, so let’s look at them for a second.

Yankees grabbed Britton on July 24th, and they traded three minor leaguers, Dillon Tate, Cody Carrol, and Josh Rogers. All three players were eligible for the Rule 5 draft, so this also preemptively takes care of those negotiations, and possibly losing the players for nothing in the offseason. Britton has only pitched 15.2 innings in 2018, coming off of an injury, and he hasn’t been at his All-Star level, but playing for the basement dwelling Orioles probably played into that a little.

Zach Britton is a mean lefty with a heavy sinker, and hopefully he’ll be able to do what Chasen Shreve has the most problems with, which is getting out lefties. Like David Robertson and Dellin Betances, Britton will be another guy who is capable of playing the Closer role, just in-case anything happens to Aroldis Chapman, who had a disastrous outing in his first of the 2nd half.

Source: Yankees sending Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to Jays in the trade for J.A. Happ. Congressman @JonHeyman was first to report them as potential return. — Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 26, 2018

The J.A. Happ trade is a little different because it involves a few MLB-ready players. Brandon Drury, who I never thought had a chance to stick with the Yankees once Cashman found out about the injury he had withheld for years, is now a Toronto Blue Jay. Billy McKinney, who actually had a chance to play for the big team, was also prety solid in Spring Training for the Yankees. His power numbers have been going up in the Minors, but he’ll never jump Greg Bird on the depth chart.

J.A. Happ is having his worst ERA season since 2014, but like Britton, Happ is also leaving a team that wasn’t contending for anything more than mediocrity. His ERA against the Red Sox is more than a run lower than his usual ERA (2.98 vs 4.14), and that’s the most intriguing thing about his numbers. J.A. Happ seems to hate the Red Sox as much as we all do!

Only time will tell if Britton and Happ were contributors to the rest of this 2018 season, but it’s nice to see Cashman making those money moves he’s known for, while not giving away anyone we’ll miss. The craziest part is that both trades are with division rivals. Somewhere the Mets are pretending the Yankees are their rivals, and not trading with them.

Yankees begin a series with the Kansas City Royals later today. Will this be the last splash Cashman makes before the trade deadline?