The All-Star break can’t come fast enough for the New York Yankees.In less than a week, they’ll be able to retreat to their homes for a few days to recharge ahead of the second half. For now, they must trudge on, trying to answer all the questions plaguing them as they continue to slide with Aaron Judge on the injured list.The approaching trade deadline should provide some remedies for this underperforming roster. What will general manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees do?At The Athletic, we’re always ready to answer questions. Beat reporter Brendan Kuty answered many from subscribers during a trade deadline-focused live Q&A on Wednesday. Here are a few highlights.(Questions have been edited for clarity and length.) How would you rank catcher, high-leverage reliever and starting pitcher in terms of the Yankees’ needs? — Rahul P.You could also add a left-side infielder to this list. But to your point, I’d rank them as follows:1. Catcher: The Yankees need to improve on their Austin Wells-J.C. Escarra-Ali Sánchez combination. Entering Wednesday, the trio had a combined 43 wRC+ — the lowest mark in the majors. They were hitting a combined .175. In 2021, the final year pitchers hit regularly in the National League, pitchers hit .110. These guys aren’t that bad yet, but it feels like it.The Yankees need to improve production at the catching position. They also need to change the feeling around it. How long must manager Aaron Boone keep answering questions about when Wells will finally hit? It’s been more than a year of this, going back to midseason in 2025.2. Reliever: The Yankees’ bullpen has produced a Win Probably Added of 1.5, good enough for 13th in the majors. But it doesn’t feel like it. That’s because the Yankees have handed their bullpen lots of deficits, often big ones, and the task is just to hold down the fort.Brent Headrick, David Bednar and Fernando Cruz have all been solid, as expected. But the Yankees traded for Jake Bird and Camilo Doval at last year’s deadline, and they have been terrible. The Yankees should not continue giving them innings in games that are anywhere near close. Upgrades are needed.3. Starting pitcher: This is tough. Max Fried (elbow bone bruise) should be back in a month-ish. Carlos Rodón, maybe the same? The problem is the depth options.Neither Elmer Rodríguez nor Brendan Beck has been good, and that’s as far as it goes in terms of Triple-A talent waiting to be deployed. With Will Warren and Ryan Weathers inconsistent lately, and with Gerrit Cole still finding his footing post-Tommy John surgery, the Yankees might need a mid-rotation arm. But their other two needs are more glaring, and the Yankees might have to just hope they can work through these issues and that the big injuries are behind them.Can Gerrit Cole become an ace again?Derek VanRiper and Eno SarrisHow can the Yankees address their strikeout issues at the deadline? Ryan McMahon is at 31.5 percent, Wells is at 27.9 percent, Sánchez is at 27.3 percent, Max Schuemann is at 26.3 — all seem like candidates (for upgrades). Luis Arraez is on the (trading) block and the best contact hitter (arguably available). … Any other low-strikeout targets make sense? — Kevin S.Minnesota Twins catcher Victor Caratini (19.1 K%) might be worth consideration if the Yankees thought the price on his teammate, Ryan Jeffers, was too high. Caratini is also a good framer, though he’s terrible at throwing out runners (minus-6 caught steals above average).I just don’t see the Yankees going after Arraez. They could have done it this offseason and there wasn’t interest. They want a better defender at second base — or at least someone with better defensive upside, like Jazz Chisholm Jr.Scheumann is a backup/utility type, and Sánchez or Wells won’t be around if the Yankees upgrade at catcher. McMahon is interesting. He’s still owed $16 million next year, and I’m sure the Yankees would love an upgrade now.You could attribute a good chunk of the Yankees’ bullpen woes to Doval and Bird, both of whom the team expected to be much better this year. But pitch models like Pitching+ suggest both are throwing the ball better than their results. How are the Yankees thinking about those two relievers at this point? — Abe K.The Yankees, like all teams, work heavily off these pitching models. The metrics say that Bird and Doval have nasty stuff. Sure, that’s true. For Bird, it’s his slider (126 Stuff+). For Doval, it’s also the slider (127 Stuff+). The problem is command and, seemingly, predictability. Bird and Doval have trouble locating just about everything they throw.Hitters also know that, at some point, the slider is coming, and they likely do their best to avoid swinging at it while picking other pitches to pounce on. For example, hitters have a .345 average against Doval’s cutter, his second-most-used pitch. They’re hunting anything but the slider.The Yankees should move on from Doval and Bird. Let other teams take them on as projects.Do you think the Yankees would consider trading Anthony Volpe given George Lombard Jr. may be MLB-ready soon? What about Spencer Jones and Jasson Domínguez given they seem to be blocking each other at the big-league level?Yes, they would surely consider trading Volpe. But to answer the second part of that question, I still feel like bringing up Lombard this season may be a rush. Yes, he’s apparently ready defensively and mentally, but what about offensively?When the Yankees gave the starting job to Volpe in 2023, they thought he was ready offensively. Same with Wells, when he became the starting catcher. Turns out, they might not have been ready. Maybe Lombard needs more time, though I would understand if the Yankees still thought he was a better option at shortstop over José Caballero and Volpe later in the season.When the Yankees are healthy, neither Jones nor Domínguez will have a big-league role. The problem: Judge isn’t healthy and Trent Grisham gets hurt sometimes. The Yankees would probably trade both of them (Jones and Domínguez), though they likely need to keep one around, and clearly they prefer Domínguez right now.