The short answer is: nothing. They didn’t do anything at the trade deadline outside of landing a minor league player named Alfredo Garcia. If you Google his name, his stats don’t come up, nor his player profile; instead, it’s a Wikipedia entry about a movie called Bring Me Alfredo Garcia’s Head. That’s how irrelevant he is. There were rumors, to be sure. But the Yankees seemed unwilling to give up what was required to land guys like Zack Greinke or Madison Bumgarner (who wasn’t traded, but it’s hard to believe the Giants wouldn’t have caved if the Yankees made an enticing offer).

Looking to the future is part of being a GM, and Brian Cashmanclearly wanted to be careful about overpaying for an arm that wouldn’t send them over the top. But sitting pat wasn’t the answer. If this year isn’t the time to make a win-now move, when will it be? The Yankees have had an absurd year, sitting with the third-best record in baseball despite literally every important player going down due to injury at one point or the other. The dreaded Red Sox are in their own rut. New York was an ace away from being considered favorites to return to the World Series for the first time in a decade.