Last place in the American League East certainly isn’t where the Yankees expected to be at the trade deadline when the 2023 season began. But that was the reality they were faced with heading into Tuesday afternoon.

But rather than sell their veteran pieces or add key components -- like a much-needed left fielder – the Yankees made a pair of minor moves, adding reliver Keynan Middleton from the White Sox and right-hander Spencer Howard (who is more of a minor league arm right now) in a series of last-minute moves.

While manager Aaron Boone isn’t the one working the phones and trying to make a deal happen, he was asked about the Yankees’ trade deadline approach on Wednesday’s episode of the Talkin’ Yanks podcast.

“I think sometimes it came down to we didn’t want rentals that were going to cost us a lot of things too,” Boone explained. “So, we’re looking to probably thread that needle a little bit of getting more controllable pieces that would help us moving forward. And again, what’s the cost? I don’t know all the costs, I don’t know all the things we said no to, all the things that were on the table. That’s more for the front office that were in those intimate conversations during the 10 days when everyone’s kind of hunkered down up there.

“Trust me, I think all conversations were had and you always want to improve your club when you can, certainly from my seat. But at the same time, my job is to try to help create an environment where guys have a chance to get unlocked, and the reality is we’re talking about a handful of players that I still feel like are very capable that have gone through a really tough stretch. Now we know it’s clear moving forward that this is our team and we’ve got to figure it out with these guys.”

As Boone said, the Yankees still have time to figure it out, at least when it comes to a potential Wild Card spot. The Yankees are currently 3.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for that third and final Wild Card berth, though the Red Sox and Angels are currently ahead of them as the first two teams out of the postseason.

Despite everything that seems to be going against the Yankees right now, from injuries to offensive ineptitude to volatile starting pitching, Boone still believes in this group, and he said his squad is “not going to roll over.”

“The reality is, way stranger things have happened and as bad as its been and as rough as it’s been here these past several weeks, we still have an opportunity," the skipper said. "There are plenty of examples in the history of the game where the pendulum swung and things did turn around and you go on a hot streak. Yeah, we’re up against it now and we dug ourselves a hole, but now with what we have and where our team is and we know what it’s going to be moving forward, that’s what we have to fight for.”

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