NEW YORK -- The Yankees made a pair of relatively minor moves at the trade deadline, acquiring reliever Keynan Middleton from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday for minor league right-hander Juan Carela and purchasing the contract of pitcher Spencer Howard from the Texas Rangers.
New York went into the deadline seeking help in left field and considering trades of potential free agents, including outfielder Harrison Bader, utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pitchers Luis Severino and Wandy Peralta.
"There wasn't a big thing to add, to be quite honest, that was going to solve the immediate problems that we had," general manager Brian Cashman said.
New York (55-52) is 7-14 since July 4 and trails Toronto by 3½ games for the AL's final wild-card spot. The Yankees are hitting .229, ahead of only Oakland for the worst batting average in the majors.
"We know that we have better baseball in us, although we haven't shown that and proven that," Cashman said. "But we've got two more months to show that now."
New York is 1-4 since All-Star slugger Aaron Judge returned from a toe injury sustained June 3 at Dodger Stadium. The Yankees are 20-27 since Judge got hurt.
"It's on us," manager Aaron Boone said after a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. "It's on the people in that room that we've got to figure it out if we're going to get to where we want to go. I know it looks bad. I understand that. But we've got to find it from within now."
New York expects to get starter Nestor Cortes back from a left rotator cuff strain and reliever Jonathan Loaisiga back from right elbow surgery. Cortes has not pitched since May 30 and Loaisiga made three appearances in April before getting hurt.
Middleton, a 29-year-old right-hander, is 2-2 with two saves and a 3.96 ERA in 39 relief appearances this season, striking out 47 but walking 16 and allowing seven home runs in 36 1/3 innings.
Middleton, who can become a free agent after the World Series, is 10-8 with 15 saves and a 4.00 ERA in one start and 192 relief appearances for the Los Angeles Angels (2017-20), Seattle (2021), Arizona (2022) and Chicago.
"We were on him as a six-year minor league free agent. He went to Chicago. They did a great job with him. He's pitched well for them and so we've stayed in touch with the White Sox when they started to dismantle," Cashman said. "So he was one of the many names we discussed with them and so once we got a feel for what the price point was there, we were comfortable taking it down."
Howard, a right-hander who turned 27 last week, has a 10.80 ERA in three relief appearances for Texas this year and is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts and nine relief appearances with Triple-A Round Rock. He is 3-11 with a 7.20 ERA in parts of four seasons.
The Yankees optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
New York also transferred catcher Jose Trevino to the 60-day injured list. Trevino underwent season-ending wrist surgery last week after playing through the injury.
Carela, 21, is 2-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 16 starts and one relief appearance this year with Class A Hudson Valley.
Texas also acquired catcher Austin Hedges from Pittsburgh for international bonus pool money and optioned left-hander Cody Bradford and right-hander Yerry Rodríguez to Round Rock.