Steinbrenner to consider adding

Yankees owner says he won’t trade top prospects

NEW YORK » The Yankees may be buyers, not sellers, as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

Led by young stars Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, the retooled Baby Bombers began Wednesday in the AL East lead at 23-13, a sevenwin improvement over last year at this time. Owner Hal Steinbrenner said New York’s starting pitching has been a pleasant surprise to him, and he will consider making roster additions — but will not trade top prospects.

“We’re going to see where we’ve at, what options are available and what those options would cost,” he said at the baseball owners’ meetings.

New York traded Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran last summer, and released Alex Rodriguez. New York’s offense improved following the injection of youth, and the generational change has helped fans connect with younger players. The Yankees’ television ratings rebounded to their highest level since Derek Jeter’s final season in 2014.

“We actually have young players for fans to be excited about, particularly the millennials, who are always Facetiming and Snapchatting,” Steinbrenner said. “They do these Facetime interviews and these Twitter question-and-answer things that 10 years ago none of us would be talking about and I still don’t understand, but they do them and clearly younger fans are really enjoying it.”

There has been an impact at the team’s merchandise stores too.

“There’s no doubt the Judge jerseys right now and the Sanchez jerseys are selling well. But they got to perform well in order for that to happen,” Steinbrenner said. “They have to be good young players that can actually produce in New York City.”

While Steinbrenner evaluates deals to strengthen the team’s roster, he also wants to get the team’s