Arizona Diamondbacks v Miami Marlins / Megan Briggs/GettyImages

Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos. Mark Leiter Jr., as well as Enyel De Los Santos. Enyel De Los Santos and, furthermore, Mark Leiter Jr. These were the relievers the Yankees opted to add at the 2024 MLB trade deadline after being provided a plethora of (costly, sure, but also better) choices.

Leiter Jr. comes with years of control, the Yankees’ favorite fascination. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, adding a pitcher with more years of control attached allows said pitcher to suck for you for even longer. That’s why the Yankees promoted Scott Effross this past weekend; the 30-year-old with 75 MLB games under his belt will be with the team through 2027, following two lost years due to injury.

If you were a tea-leaf reader at the deadline, there was reason to believe in Leiter Jr.’s swing-and-miss splitter, as long as the Yankees also added a proven closer/late-inning arm in his wake. Instead, they added De Los Santos on a whim, and have already DFA’d him; he pitches in Chicago now. No, yeah, with the 130-loss team. Leiter Jr., as Yankees acquisitions often do, didn’t allow an earned run or a batter to reach base in July prior to joining the Yanks; his first two outings in pinstripes featured a walk, four hits, and a run. He has now been worth negative bWAR on the season (-0.5, to be exact).

So, no, the Yankees did no go far enough during the time earmarked for improvement. They added one promising pitcher and one brutal one. The promising pitcher took a swan dive, and the brutal one’s a White Sox now. Clay Holmes blew his 11th save of the season on Tuesday night; the Yankees now have the second-most losses in MLB (eight) when leading after eight innings of play, behind only the Rockies. That represents a complete organizational failure, marked plainly by Brian Cashman refusing to pay top prices at the deadline in a supposed all-in year, instead content to look for bargains hidden under rocks.

3 closer candidates Yankees should’ve added at 2024 MLB Trade Deadline

AJ Puk, Arizona Diamondbacks

Though it feels like the Diamondbacks “saved” AJ Puk from Miami after paying a hefty price to acquire him, the reality is he’d already found his stride with the Marlins prior to being plucked. As CBS’ Chris Towers noted Tuesday night, his 1.83 ERA and 37% K rate in his final 18 games in Miami matches up nicely with his sparkling 0.60 ERA and 40% K rate in his first 18 with the Diamondbacks.

Given the Yankees’ dearth of swing-and-miss options, left-handed relievers in general, and potential backup closers of any handedness, not paying the price for Puk looks more egregious by the day. The burly 6’7″ lefty has a tendency to get erratic on occasion, but “erratic” is preferable to “hittable.” While Arizona surrendered a breakout prospect in slugger Deyvison De Los Santos to acquire Puk, there is no existing consensus that he’ll be able to make an effective leap from the minors, and is potentially destined for Quad-A status.

If he does make an impact at the big-league level? Well, that’s the price the market agreed that GMs had to pay in July for a top-tier (or even a second-tier) reliever. Trading De Los Santos was a risk, but one the streaking Diamondbacks are glad they made.

Michael Kopech, Los Angeles Dodgers

Did Mark Prior and the Dodgers pitching lab really fix Michael Kopech and his monumental heater nearly overnight? Or is Kopech just an elite-level talent who went from wasting away in the White Sox bullpen to starring for the star-studded Dodgers, and quickly found his groove, excited to contribute to a pennant race?

Theoretically, the Yankees should’ve been able to offer him both a comparable level of instruction from Matt Blake and the heat of a postseason chase, in case he needed motivation.

Kopech was essentially dealt for a song, tossed into a Tommy Edman trade that forced the Dodgers to surrender only Miguel Vargas and top-30 prospects Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus. What’s that in Yankees parlance? Someone like Everson Pereira feels like a higher-upside option than the fading Vargas, even while rehabbing from Tommy John. The Yankees could’ve matched this in their sleep, and should’ve had both Edman for the bench and Kopech’s four hits allowed and 20 Ks in 15 1/3 innings. Alas, Cashman couldn’t get creative, and was iced out by Andrew Friedman.

Jason Adam, San Diego Padres

This space should be reserved for Pete Fairbanks; never forget, the Yankees had a chance at a truly transformational deadline with Fairbanks/Yandy Diaz, but couldn’t convince the Rays to part ways with their stars. It happens … but if Cashman had pushed his most attractive chips a little further in, we might really have had something here (and would probably be bemoaning the Spencer Jones breakout in Montgomery, AL).

Instead, we’ll go with a third alternative. It’s still surprising Cashman didn’t end up with Lucas Erceg, a converted infielder throwing high-90s for the Kansas City Royals these days. He has five years of control beyond 2024. He cost MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 and No. 18 Royals prospects, plus an unranked third option (Roderick Arias, Clayton Beeter, Wild Card for the Yankees?). He’s also got a 4.40 ERA, regressing since the trade. How is he not ours?

Rather than begging Cashman to have gone Full AJ Preller and traded for Jason Adam (0.60 ERA in 15 post-trade outings for the Padres) and Tanner Scott (2.40 ERA, cost a reverse mortgage), we’ll advocate for the Adam move only. Yup, another reminder that the Padres paid a hefty price, but got two closer options, while the needy Yankees came home with a big toe in a bag.

Right-hander Dylan Lesko headlining the Adam trade was surprising at the time, but his minor-league command numbers leave too much to be desired for anyone in San Diego to really worry much about this. The Yankees could’ve given the Rays some recognizable fixer-uppers, too, like Will Warren, Chase Hampton, and Arias. Unfortunately, they didn’t; Leiter Jr. it is, and Leiter Jr. it will be in perpetuity. Team Control!