HOUSTON — All has been relatively quiet on the Yankees’ trade front as Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline approaches, but manager Joe Girardi on Wednesday said the club might not be done making moves — just not the ones everyone seems to expect in terms of cleaning house.
Asked if he senses more deals coming, Girardi said, “Yeah, I think it’s a possibility. I know everyone is going to say, ‘subtract,’ but [GM] Brian [Cashman] said, ‘We’re not saying that we’re just subtracting. We could be adding, too.’ I think that’s a possibility.”
A manager’s job is tied to the win-loss column, and that could put Girardi in an uncomfortable spot if the organization’s focus is on the future.
“I don’t let it bother me,” Girardi said. “I manage every day the same way to win the game. And you manage games where you don’t put players in jeopardy of getting hurt, too. That’s not going to change.”
Nova drawing interest
Righthander Ivan Nova (7-5), who is scheduled to start Friday night at Tampa Bay, is drawing considerable interest on the trade market, but he’s trying to ignore it.
“I’m not the type of guy that listens to stuff,” Nova said. “My only job is trying to get the team back in the fight, trying to go out there and put out a good game for the team and, hopefully, get a win. We have played a lot better after the All-Star break. There’s a lot of baseball left, and I think the only focus is just to keep winning.”
Day off for Miller, Betances
Neither closer Andrew Miller nor eighth-inning setup man Dellin Betances were available Wednesday night after working the first two games of the Astros series. The manager was looking at using a combination of Adam Warren, Rob Swarzak and Luis Severino in the late innings and possibly Richard Bleier against lefties . . . Wednesday night starter Masahiro Tanaka threw only 83 pitches in his last win against the Giants and 92 or less in his past three starts as Girardi tried to maximize his rest, but the manager said that might not be the case in Wednesday night’s game with a short pen.
..... - Newsday