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The New York Yankees had a busy day ahead of the Major League Baseball trade deadline. After New York added Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies, the floodgates were thrown open. Thursday's trades were largely focused on bringing in bullpen depth to help Aaron Boone's relievers. One of the first moves the Yankees made was trading for Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar.
While the trade turned heads, it was not the only upgrade New York made to their bullpen. Just before the 6pm EST deadline, the Yankees revealed that they traded for San Francisco Giants reliever Camilo Doval. With those two moves, Boone now has four different pitchers he can turn to that have experience as closers. They are now a formidable force in close games.
The Yankees gave up three prospects to bring Bednar in, including the No. 8 player in their farm system. However, general manager Brian Cashman considered it a fitting price to pay for a player that could get them to the World Series yet again. After New York lost multiple close games in the Fall Classic last year, not having an upgraded bullpen is simply unacceptable.
For the Pirates, Bednar was an early trade candidate. The closer has been one of the few bright spots on Pittsburgh's roster outside of Paul Skenes. Unfortunately for him, his numbers suffered because he rarely got the chance to secure saves for the Pirates. Pittsburgh's front office made moves with their future in mind at the MLB trade deadline.
Bednar's exit represents the Pirates officially giving up on the 2025 season. The Yankees, on the other hand, have bought in on this year's roster. They will try to compete and avenge their World Series loss.
Here are grades for each team after the trade.
Pirates: B-
In a perfect world, the Pirates did not have to trade Bednar away at the MLB trade deadline. However, the 2025 regular season has been anything but perfect for Pittsburgh. After entering the season with a lot of hype and hope for a playoff berth, almost every player on the roster came out flat. Things got so bad that the Pirates fired their manager early in the season.
When it was clear that the team was going nowhere this year, Bednar's name was the first one thrown around in rumors. The former All-Star has been a consistent option out of Pittsburgh's bullpen for years. However, the former All-Star was not safe in trade talks. Even though teams called about him, the only Pirates player that was untouchable was Skenes.
While Bednar's numbers were good yet again this season, moving off of his expiring deal was a no-brainer. He will receive a more expensive deal when he becomes a free agent this winter. While Pittsburgh would have liked to keep him, most of, if not all of their money will go towards signing Skenes to a long-term deal. Every other player's contract is a much smaller priority.
Rafael Flores, the top prospect the Pirates got in return for Bednar, is an intriguing player. He is not ready for the major leagues just yet. However, he could be a problem when he gets there. For a team trying to build a contender around Skenes, Flores could develop into a key offensive piece alongside Oneil Cruz. He and the other prospects could be a boost down the road.
Yankees: A-
Bednar joins a laundry list of relievers New York traded for. He, Doval, and Jake Bird are big additions to the Yankees' bullpen. Boone went from having limited options in later innings to being able to craft different strategies depending on the opponent in front of him. While he is not the biggest name of the three, Bednar could be the one that has the biggest impact.
Devin Williams had his struggles with the Yankees early in the regular season. Despite starting slow, the former Milwaukee Brewer has found his stride. The closer role is his to lose for the rest of the season. However, he now has more pressure to perform thanks to the new additions to the team. However, Bednar's best role in Boone's bullpen is not as the closer.
The former Pirates All-Star has a 2.37 ERA in 38 innings pitched this season. He has 17 saves this season, but the Yankees will give him a chance to lock down holds instead, setting things up for Williams in the ninth inning. That kind of role puts much less pressure on Bednar to succeed, especially as he enters the first postseason of his career later this season if New York gets there.
Boone, for one, is happy to have his new relievers ready to go.
“We’ve got to improve in some areas,” Boone said. “I do feel like hopefully with some of the people on the rise for us … hopefully [those] are big deals for us and we get to take our shot here these next couple of months at getting back to [the World Series] and hopefully winning it all.”
