New York Yankees Trade Rumors: Ben Zobrist Bidding War With New York Mets As Teams Try To Trade With Oakland Athletics

New York Yankees trade rumors about Ben Zobrist come with a twist now. The New York Mets want a trade with the Oakland Athletics as well, leading to a bidding war to acquire Zobrist before the MLB trade deadline. A report from Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday (July 14) reveals that the Yankees and Mets are both showing interest as the Athletics fall out of contention in the American League West. Zobrist had been pulled off the market when the Athletics went on a winning streak, but the team has now fallen to last place in the division.

A report from the New York Post earlier in July indicated that the New York Mets are now willing to overpay to get Ben Zobrist. The team has needed someone like Zobrist for a while, and the expectation is that he could bolster the lineup and play several positions in the field. This is what Mets fans want to see, especially with how good the pitching staff has been for most of the regular season.

What these New York Yankees trade rumors show is that the team wants to make a move well before the July 31 MLB trade deadline. Zobrist could easily step into second base and provide the team a push for the second half. Since the 2009 regular season began, Zobrist also has the third best WAR in all of baseball, showing just how valuable he could be to either team. The only two players that have been better in that time frame are Miguel Cabrera and Andrew McCutchen.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, it’s not just the New York franchises that would like to make a deal with the Oakland Athletics. The Los Angeles Angels have also been in talks with the division rival, with interest being shown in both Zobrist and Josh Reddick. It’s unclear what the Angels would be willing to offer to a team in direct competition, though, which means the New York teams could have an advantage in negotiations. It also hasn’t been publicly revealed what the Yankees and Mets have put on the table, so it’s impossible to state which team has the inside track.

This is likely exactly what Athletics general manager Billy Beane wanted to happen when he acquired Ben Zobrist from the Tampa Bay Rays. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out now, because these New York Yankees trade rumors might not evolve into anything unless the team is willing to outbid the Mets. Can Zobrist make a big enough difference down the stretch to be worth it?

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