The Yankees, in possession of a great farm system, have a bevy of trade chips. They pushed a number of those chips into the table this summer. With the team somewhat unexpectedly in the thick of contention, it was prudent to take some future value in the form of prospects and transform it into current, tangible, major league production in the here and now.
Of course, among the trades the Yankees made, two of them were made with the future very much in mind. When they flipped Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, and Tito Polo to Chicago for David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, it was to build an uber-bullpen both now and in the future.