Will Warren’s reaction to the viral trade rumor came fast and honest.
When the Yankees right-hander heard he had been linked to a deal for Padres reliever Adrian Morejon, his first instinct was pure shock. Warren told The Athletic on Sunday that the report landed like a gut punch.
“Definitely,” the Yankees right-hander told The Athletic on Sunday, “when you read it, I was like, no way. They didn’t think I was good enough? That’s how I took it at first.”
Warren said his wife texted him on Aug. 2 to let him know about the rumor. The initial version of the story had the Padres turning down the trade, a detail that didn’t really line up since Morejon is set to become a free agent after this season while Warren remains under team control through 2030. The Athletic later debunked that original report.
Warren’s own response to his wife said plenty.
“Phew,” Warren texted back to his wife on Aug. 2. “Close call.”
For Warren and his family, it was a reminder of how quickly a career can tilt in a different direction.
The 8-6 starter with a 4.18 ERA is lined up to take the ball Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners, with the Yankees trying to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
His role could look different down the road. Once Carlos Rodon and then Clarke Schmidt return to the rotation, Warren could be pushed into the bullpen, where he would join Paul Blackburn, Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick and David Bednar as a high-leverage option.
Warren says the trade chatter has become part of the job. He’s been in the rumor mill before, and at this point, he’s learned not to let it consume him.
“Since my first season,” he said, “I think I’ve been tossed in these trade rumors like every single season. At this point, it’s like, I can’t do anything about it. If it happens, it happens.”
For now, though, he’s still in the rotation and still trying to help the Yankees win with a group that includes several other former farmhands who came through the same system: Ben Rice, Spencer Jones, Austin Wells and George Lombard Jr.
Warren was drafted by the Yankees in the eighth round in 2021 out of Southeastern Louisiana University, and he says that shared path has made this stretch feel especially meaningful.
“This is the only thing I know,” he said of the Yankees. “It’s really, really special because, like, (Austin) Wells, Cam.
Clarke (Schmidt). George (Lombard Jr.).
Ben (Rice). Spencer (Jones).
We all came up with the Yankees. Even if we didn’t play multiple years with each other, we were in the farm system together.
So we’re close. And the team we have is super tight-knit.
We jell together. I think we all have extra belief in one another.”
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