Past trade deadlines for the Yankees have produced sub-par trades. I mean if you consider Kyle Farnsworth for Ivan Rodriguez a big deal than i guess not, but the last big impact player the Yanks acquired at the deadline that I can think of is Bobby Abreu (great deal). Yesterday the Yanks acquired two players that improve the team, Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns coming to the Bronx in separate deals.
Lance Berkman is the bigger name of the two, being a five time all star and known for his hitting ability. Due to his 10 and 5 rights (10 years in the league, 5 with the same team) Berkman had the right to veto any trade. Berkman turned down a trade to the White Sox and after that Brian Cashman was all over him. Cashman offered Mark Melancon and a prospect for "The big puma", who agreed to the trade. I think that it is a great trade for the Yanks, early reports are that the Astros will eat four million of Berkman's 7.5 million contract. Berkman can play first base and play the corner outfield spots, although he will see most of his time at DH. What I love the most about Berkman is that this year he is having a "down" year yet has an OBP of .372 and has 13 homers and 49 RBI. The only thing that worries me is that with Jorge Posada struggling to stay behind the plate, Posada will need to share the time at DH, possibly moving Berkman to the bench or outfield. With the move the Yanks can send Juan Miranda back to AAA Scranton.
With the addition of Berkman the line up could possibly look like this :
Jeter
Swisher
Tex
A-Rod
Cano
Berkman
Posada
Granderson
Gardner
You could always switch Berkman and Posada depending on who's hitting better.
The other deal the Yankees made that was over shadowed by Berkman was adding Austin Kearns to be a role/bench player. This season with Cleveland, Kearns was having a nice season hitting .272 with 42 RBI along with playing spectacular defense. When Kearns was told the news that he was going to the Yankees he said that playing time didn't matter to him with a team like the Yankees. You gotta love a player like that right away, it says something about Kearns, a free agent after this season, that he isn't worried about his next contract and his stats but more importantly helping the team win. The Yanks can now send down Colin Curtis who played decent in his time up and was a fan favorite, but the Yanks don't need him if they have Kearns. 
Marcus Thames most likely will lose some playing time now that Berkman and Kearns are here but that's not a huge loss. Granderson may lose a bit of playing time against lefties since Kearns and Thames hit them well, most of all it strengthens the bench. For Kearns the Yanks gave up nothing just cash and a player to be named later. 
The Yankees made two big moves that really helped the club out, the trade deadline isn't done just yet so more help could be on the way. The bombers could use some help in the bullpen so maybe a small move may be made there to help the club. If the Yanks don't make another move I wouldn't be upset they have already made two good trades. Now if they could just get rid of Chan Ho Park....
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