Trades are very tricky for the Yankees.  Everyone wants to hold them up for all they are worth.  This is especially true for young talent.  The same does not seem the case for other teams.  Remember the Beckett deal.  It was the off-season after 2005. Epstein was contemplating life without the Red Sox and was supposedly not the GM at the time. The Marlins wanted Hanley Ramirez and John Lester, plus another minor leaguer.  The Red Sox would take on Beckett and Lowell.  But the Red Sox refused to give up Lester. Instead they offered Anibal Sanchez and another lesser minor league arm, but only if the Marlins through in Guillermo Mota (steroid version).  So the deal ended up as follows:

Boston got: Beckett (cost controlled via arbitration for 2 years); Lowell 2 years $18M total; and Guillermo Mota.

Marlins got: Ramirez (undoubtedly a stud SS talent), Anibal Sanchez (who was very good in 2006 but injured in 2007), Jesus Delgado (who?) and Harey Garcia (who?).

Granted, the Marlins got a All-Star in Ramirez but did they get much else for a stud pitcher, a MLB above average 3B and a solid (at that time) reliever?  And the Marlins did not insist on Lester.  If this was the Yankees the request would have been Cano, Hughes, and whoever was the next highest Yankee prospect at the time.  The Marlins would have insisted and the deal would have died.  That’s why it is so hard for the Yankees to make trades.  Maybe with the two world series in four years, the Red Sox will run into trade problems this time around.