This was not about a day. This was not about the 2023 version of the trade deadline.

Their trouble in the AL East and their inability to significantly buy or sell or do anything that impacted the potential for success of this year’s team or any future Yankee squad has been a cumulative of failed strategy and player procurement layered over years.

The Yankees were the last of 30 teams to make a trade at this deadline and it feels like they did so as much to avoid the ignominy of being the only club that didn’t. Their “significant” move was to obtain a middling middle reliever named (Keynan) Middleton from the White Sox. They also bought the contract (from the Rangers) of a once top pitching prospect Spencer Howard, who over parts of four seasons has a 7.20 ERA.

Middleton has a career-best (by a lot) 30.1 strikeout percentage this year. But he dominates neither lefties nor righties, is homer susceptible and would be behind (at minimum) Clay Holmes, Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle, Ian Hamilton and Jonathan Loaisiga when he returns from the injured list on the Yankees’ relief pecking order.

READ MORE

Grading trade-deadline hauls in the days — or months or sometimes years — after they were finalized is a preposterous exercise designed to age poorly.

A for-sure superstar will go downhill. A no-name, teenage prospect who was exchanged will grow into a perennial All-Star.

So after a busy deadline for just about everyone except the Yankees, let’s grade Tuesday’s biggest (and local-est) deals:

Mets trade RHP Justin Verlander to Astros for OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford

The all-out Mets not only sell for this year but next as well. They once used Steve Cohen’s money to try to buy a championship, which did not work immediately.

They now will use Cohen’s money to buy a farm system, triggering several trades that might be great for the future but are dismal for this year and next.

READ MORE

There was another deal ready to happen, but thanks to Eduardo Rodriguez’s no-trade clause, it never materialized. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers had worked out a trade that involved the 30-year-old Rodriguez, but the left-handed starter invoked his 10-team no-trade clause that included the Dodgers, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The starter axed the deal due to his “desire to remain closer to family on the east coast,” The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported. 

Not being able to trade Rodriguez could end up being a missed opportunity for the Tigers if the lefty opts out of his contract after this season.

READ MORE

Scott Barlow is headed to San Diego, adding an extra bullpen arm in front of star closer Josh Hader.

Barlow, 29, is likely to set up for Hader -- and with 13 saves of his own, spell him down the stretch.

First baseman Josh Bell will be joining his fourth team in the past two seasons.

The Marlins acquired the slugger -- previously of the Nationals, then traded to the Padres and signed by the Guardians in the offseason -- for veteran Jean Segura and infielder Kahlil Watson, the 11th-ranked prospect in Miami's system..

The Yankees added 29-year-old reliever Kenyan Middleton in a move that likely does little to change their season outlook at this point.

Jack Flaherty, once thought to be a staple of the Cardinals rotation, seems to be headed to the Orioles, adding an arm for an upstart team with big-time playoff hopes.

The 27-year-old has struggled with injuries in recent seasons and a fresh start in Baltimore may aid him -- with his playoff experience going the other way.

The Mets' roster strip down took another step with the deadline looming, sending Tommy Pham to the Diamondbacks.

In return, they'll add another prospect -- a point of emphasis at the 2023 deadline -- in 17-year-old shortstop Jeremy Rodriguez.

The Dominican Republic native is slashing .250/.368/.751 with two homers, 18 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 120 at-bats in rookie league with the DSL Arizona Black squad.

Tommy Pham seems likely to be on his way out, according to The Post's Mike Puma:

It's been a quiet day in the Bronx, where MLB's only team to have not made a trade deadline deal resides.

Eduardo Rodriguez is not interested in what the Dodgers have to offer.

The Tigers ace reportedly invoked his 10-team no-trade clause to kill a deal the teams had in place.

Rodriguez, in the midst of a strong 2023 season, was high up on the list of trade deadline targets -- and it seems like he remains on that list, for now.

Brace yourself, Mets fans -- your wait for a contender might take a little longer.

Max Scherzer's ticket out of town came after he met with Mets brass, who told him the vision was not to reload for 2024, but instead focusing on 2026.

“I talked to Billy [Eppler],” Scherzer told The Athletic. “I was like, ‘OK, are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ‘25 at the earliest, more like ‘26. We’re going to be making trades around that.’

“I was like, ‘So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’ He said, ‘No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. ‘24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.’”