Jon Heyman reports the Yankees may seek a right-handed-hitting outfielder before the August 3 deadline but are cautious about Luis Robert Jr. Three years of injury and performance data explain why that caution is priced correctly.

The Yankees got blown out in Philadelphia on Saturday, 11-4, making it six weeks without Aaron Judge and counting. Jon Heyman reported Sunday afternoon that the club may add a right-handed-hitting outfielder before the August 3 deadline — but is "leery" of the splashiest name on the market, Luis Robert Jr., citing the outfielder's injury history.

That caution is not a soft opinion. It is a number.

Robert, 27, was acquired by the New York Mets from the White Sox in January in a deal that cost New York outfield prospect Luisangel Acuña, pitching prospect Truman Pauley, and a total financial commitment of $46.2 million after luxury tax is factored in. He is now the centerpiece of a Mets sell-off that hasn't gone according to anyone's plan. He spent nearly three months on the 60-day injured list with disc inflammation in his back, was reinstated July 22, and is 1-for-10 with a solo home run and five strikeouts since returning. His season slash sits at .211/.306/.337 in 108 plate appearances.

The longer view is no kinder. Over the past three seasons — spanning roughly 1,000 plate appearances — Robert has hit .222/.290/.368, well below average at a position where power and contact are the floor. The back issue is the latest in a series of ailments that have kept a genuinely toolsy center fielder from stringing together a healthy run since his excellent 2023 campaign. The Mets would owe him close to $8 million through season's end, plus a buyout, and they have made clear they don't plan to eat salary on trades — a number that makes any acquiring team shoulder the full freight on a still-convalescing back.

Heyman listed the alternatives the Yankees might pursue — "if available," a qualifier that does real work in this context: Lane Thomas, Spencer Steer, Jo Adell, Jorge Soler, and George Springer.

Thomas, 29, is with Kansas City on a one-year, $5.25-million deal and has less than half that salary remaining. He owns an 86 wRC+ across 235 plate appearances this season, a number that makes him a functional platoon piece rather than a solution. Soler, with the Angels, went on the injured list in early June with an oblique strain and had posted a 95 wRC+ in 243 PAs before going down. Springer, 36, is a Blue Jay — same division as the Yankees — and has his own health ledger this season after fracturing a big toe in April and reaggravating it in May.

None of these options are exciting. That is the deadline market the Yankees are working. With Judge on the 60-day IL and no confirmed return date, the Bronx front office is looking for a right-handed bat that doesn't come with a back injury, a divisional conflict, or a salary the seller won't discount. Robert checks two of those three boxes for the wrong team.

The August 3 deadline is seven days away. The Yankees aren't holding out for a marquee name — they're doing deadline math on who actually stays on the field.