The New York Yankees utility situation wasn’t clear just a day before their first game of the season.
Their utilityman, Oswaldo Cabrera, is now forced into action as a third baseman because the starter there, DJ LeMahieu, is still recovering from a bone bruise in his right foot and was recently placed on the injured list.
The team was forced to go to the trade market, and wound up acquiring a pretty solid player capable of covering multiple positions.
“The Marlins are acquiring Yankees No. 28 prospect John Cruz and Rays outfield prospect Shane Sasaki in a three-team trade, with the Yankees acquiring Jon Berti and the Rays getting Ben Rortvedt,” MLB Pipeline tweeted on Wednesday.
The Marlins are acquiring Yankees No. 28 prospect John Cruz and Rays outfield prospect Shane Sasaki in a three-team trade, with the Yankees acquiring Jon Berti and the Rays getting Ben Rortvedt.
Cruz: https://t.co/3uDIw5C6Zu
Sasaki: https://t.co/PSDBXUjY6O pic.twitter.com/31JOZS5W5O— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 27, 2024
Berti is capable of playing second base, shortstop, third base, and the three outfield positions.
He is an authentic jack-of-all-trades player, and the best thing of all is that he can actually swing a league-average bat while stealing a bunch of bases.
This is actually a very underrated acquisition by the Yankees, and the cost was low: their 28th ranked prospect and a catcher who wasn’t going to play much anyway.
Berti, in 2023, hit .294/.344/.405 with seven home runs and 16 stolen bases.
That’s a pretty solid line; and he stole 41 bases the year before.
The Rays get a potentially solid and young backup catcher in Rortvedt, and the Marlins get two prospects to add to their farm.
All three teams have the potential to get some value from the deal, but the Yankees are the ones aggressively attacking a dire need.
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