The Yankees acquired infielder Martin Prado from the Diamondbacks, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network. The D’Backs will receive catching prospect Peter O’Brien and a player to be named later or cash considerations and are not contributing cash to the deal, tweets MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. The Yankees have now officially announced the deal.
Prado, 30, is hitting .270/.317/.370 in 436 plate appearances for Arizona this year while playing mostly third base. He was a major piece of the January 2013 trade that brought Justin Upton to the Braves. Shortly after the acquisition, Prado signed a four-year, $40MM extension with the D’Backs. He has about $3.6MM remaining this year, and $11MM in each of the 2015 and ’16 seasons.
Minutes before this trade, the Yankees acquired Stephen Drew from the Red Sox for Kelly Johnson. On July 22nd, the Yankees added third baseman Chase Headley. Drew will play second base, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, while it’s not exactly clear how Prado will be employed.
O’Brien, 24, is hitting .267/.312/.593 with 33 home runs between High-A and Double-A in 413 plate appearances. Baseball America ranked him 23rd among Yankees prospects prior to the season, praising his power but questioning his defense.
How? Thought deadline ended?
It needs to be done by the deadline. Trades often aren’t reported until after.
They have to be sent into the Commish’s office by 4, but can be announced anytime after.
There’s that right field power bat they’ve needed.
Just going to call sarcasm before someone clueless comes along.
There is your right handed outfielder
How many infielders do the yanks need? They got headley drew and prado to go with jeter ryan tex and whoever else. Lot of players.
Prado can play outfield
And Drew can sweep the dugout when everybody else is on the field.
LOL
HAHAHAHA!
That is hilarious!
And Drew can sweep the dugout when everybody else is on the field.
Yankees sign FA mad scientist Victor Frankenstein to patch them all together. You’ll see!
What! Now that was unexpected.
I have to assume Roberts or Ryan is gone. Though they also could send down Wheeler. Still need a RFer.
They could play Prado in right. They had Wheeler out there last weekend.
…for Stephen Drew? That would be sweet.
i Deff love this move
Drew and Prado huh, well It’s not like we were gonna compete anyways without Tanaka, Pineda ,and the others…
“NEVER CAN HAVE TOO MANY UTILITY INFIELDERS!” -Brian Cashman, probably.
Uh, Headley, Jeter, and Tex have 3/4 of the infield positions. Now Prado and Drew? Where do they expect these Punch-and-Judy hitters to play? Too bad that Byrd trade was not done.
could it be Ryan for Prado ?
I like this move. Prado is a good player, a definite upgrade.
I like it as well. Prado has always been a good hitter. He’s gonna really lengthen the lineup which Headley was starting to do.. Ryan,Roberts,and Wheeler are guys who might be gone now(at least one or 2 of em)
Prado makes a TON of sense for the Yankees. He’s their new RF for the time being and he can take over at 2B or 3B in 2015.
Either Brian Roberts or Ryan will be gone. Maybe even both
I’m hearing it’s O’brien for Prado. My heart is broken. Goodbye.
O’brien isn’t anything special. A power bat that makes no contact, no plate discipline, and no sure position. Not a huge loss.
I’m hearing it’s O’brien for Prado. My heart is broken. Goodbye.
This trade deadline blows last year’s out of the water.
Small needed upgrades in defense. Let’s hope their offense gets a boost in NYS.
Best trade the Yankees can make at this point is to trade the 2014 Beltran & Brian Mc Cann for the players they really are on the back of their baseball cards. They have been terrible.
Damnit! Why couldn’t you guys just be satisfied with Stephen Drew?? lol Prado made so much sense for the Jays.. oh well
And they gave up O’Brien. I’m dissapointed.
O’Brien and Jeter are headed to Arizona.
So the Yankees gave up another guy now and D’Backs took 0 monies? Good stuff.
How did AA not top this!!!!????
This probably comes down to the payroll issues. The Yankees covering his salary was probably the key to the deal. AA probably needed Arizona to cover some of it, and Arizona just wanted to be free of it, even if it meant getting a lesser package of players. That or AA wasn’t even interested after getting Valencia. By most accounts he was only looking for pitchers at this point.
Did the Yankees forget they already traded for Headley and Drew or has Jeter already retired?
Prado most likely plays RF.
NYY traded for Byrd already today
Prado RF
Byrd??? did you forget they traded for him too
It was a fake account that said Byrd was acquired by the Yankees. It’s not true.
Woops my bad forgot that was the fake Sherman… too many trades for my lil brain!
And of course he can’t actually catch, why am I even surprised?
Yankees now should have Jeter DH, Headley at 3B, Drew at SS, and Prado at 2B.
Jeter will not allow it!
That would work, except Beltran can’t throw with his elbow injury, so as long as he plays (and he will) he’s the permanent DH.
I’ve heard this about Beltran, though I haven’t looked into his specific injury. Was wondering how he is able to swing a bat decently (if you call his 95 wRC+ decent) yet unable to throw a baseball? Earnest question – just too glued to MLBTR to research his injury.
What about A-Rod next year!?!!! 3B will be a logjam!
Drew, Headley and Jeter are all FA at the end of the season
Headley and Drew are rentals, and A-Rod is most likely a DH.
I think Headley will be back, Beltran will be back in RF. So A-Rod will be the mostly full time DH
I think A-rod will never play another game for the yankees
Sorry if the punctuation didn’t imply my sarcasm.
If I were the Yankees I’d have
RF: Beltran
DH: Jeter
2B: Prado
SS: Drew
But obviously Jeter won’t let that happen.
If Beltran was able to throw it might be possible but at this point he’s unable to even get the ball into the infield which is why he’s DHing
Good trade for the Yankees. O’Brien was all hype, as all he can do is hit home runs…which is nice, but when a player makes such little contact, it’s hard to feel confident that he will handle the more sophisticated pitching of higher levels.
O’Brien has been a catcher, but is very defensively limited; he’ll probably be at 1B in the majors.
For sure, prado great addition, this seems like a salary dump, O’Brien I’ve dimensional DH, with no plate discipline and huge k holes, prob never sees the majors
Good trade for the Yankees. O’Brien was all hype, as all he can do is hit home runs…which is nice, but when a player makes such little contact, it’s hard to feel confident that he will handle the more sophisticated pitching of higher levels.
O’Brien has been a catcher, but is very defensively limited; he’ll probably be at 1B in the majors.
That’s what, like 100 infielders they have now for 4 spots??
I like this trade but im still not sure about the drew trade.
Can’t hurt, Kelly Johnson wasn’t doing much with the bat and the infield defense was bad.
Agree. and now NYY DFA Brian Roberts
Brian Roberts DFA’d
Ichiro is soon to follow
TBH I like Ichiro off the bench, Roberts gone for Drew’s spot, Prado gets KJ’s on the 40 and zoilo probably gets sent down. My guess. I like Zoilo though.
surprised no one is bad mouthing Towers.
Honestly he did well to pass off that contract.
I meant the J-U trade overall…never mind!
odd trade. unless they are looking for more opportunities to flip. drew will be gone next year, as will headley, but prado they keep. he plays third, arod dh, and they find middle infielders in the offseason
Well, if AA couldn’t top this, it’s clear the jays don’t have two nickels to rub together. Two Canadian nickels, even!
Are canadian nickels are worth 5 million dollars each?
Best no trade protection ever = playing for the Phillies
haha agree
Yanks get hosed if O’Brien keeps hitting 30+ HR a year. Miguel Montero will find himself out of a job real fast.
You mean Mark Trumbo?
How would trumbo be out of a job when O’Brien is a C/1B prospect?
Only seems natural they replace a power-only bat lacking a glove with another in LF.
His defense hasn’t been terrible at either C or 1B. Not great, will never win a good glove, don’t think he will kill you that Much behind the plate
Looks like he’s already being moved off of catcher, that’s a pretty bad sign at AA. Even Jesus Montero lasted longer.
If New York felt good about O’Brien’s potential to stick behind the plate, I’m not sure he gets moved.
Ever heard of Gary Sanchez? Only really need 1 catcher and cervelli is proving he can at least be a capable starter if needed. I, like the Yankees, feel better about Sanchez over O’Brien. Doesn’t mean the Yankees weren’t convinced he would stick behind the plate.
I don’t really agree with any of that.
Good for you lol. Doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Sanchez is,more of a sure thing defensively and walks more than O’Brien. Cervelli is at worst a competent backup and they have a guy named Brian McCann? 4 catchers is,excessive so O’Brien was expendable. Doesn’t mean the Yankees weren’t convinced about him behind the plate. Just had better options.
I’m not sure what you’re arguing. If O’Brien was more of a sure thing defensively than Sanchez, or Murphy, he probably wouldn’t have been traded for a guy like Martin Prado.
Which was my original point.
No you said his potential to stick behind the plate. I’m saying he doesn’t have to be moved they just had better options. You don’t sign McCann long term and keep like 4 other catchers in the system with potential when you clearly nRed help elsewhere. It’s not just because they felt he wouldn’t stick behind the plate. They don’t need him. They need a decent bat with versatility and that’s what they gave up. I’m sure the Dbacks asked for better and that’s what they got. They deal prospects for trash all the time. And my original point was if this kid keeps hitting 30 + HR a year this is an awful trade
I don’t see what McCann’s contract has to do with anyone in the minor league system.
O’Brien has played more games at both DH and 1B than he has at catcher, so I think it’s pretty clear the Yankees didn’t really see a long-term future behind the plate. If they did see a long-term future behind the plate, then the team would not have had better options.
They could use a 1B/DH more than a catcher but they traded him anyways lol
Yes, that I agree with. Not sure how safe a bet it is to count on Beltran and Teixiera remaining positive value players over the rest of their contracts.
Plus there’s still JR Murphy who is ML ready and has proven it.
Very underrated pickup for the Yankees. Prado is a nice player who lengthens the Yankees lineup nicely. I don’t know much about O’Brien other than he has a nice power bat.
The Upton trade looks EVEN WORSE for the Dbacks now.
The Upton trade looks EVEN WORSE for the Dbacks now.
nice deal yanks
My guess is they put Prado in right for now and move him to second next year. I like this trade. O’Brien sounds like another Shelly Duncan, power and that’s about it.
How about Prado at second, refsnyder in rf and drew backing up
Prado has LF experience. Prado to LF, Gardner to RF, Ichiro to bench.
Prado isn’t playing LF in Yankee Stadium over Gardner.
There’s no other logical place to put him.
If he has the arm to play 3B and fill in at SS, he can play RF.
Agreed. Gardner doesn’t have the arm for RF.
A little disappointed we parted with O’Brien
I agree. The high-strikeout, low-walk profile isn’t the safest bet, especially with so many defensive questions, but the power potential is so serious that it would have been nice to let him sink or swim with the big club.
I can’t remember who becomes a free agent after this season, Lester or Lacky. But the buzz is whoever it is will sign with the Yankees.
The Giants proved it in 2010 and 2012, that you don’t need an all star team to win the World Series. They had very good pitching, no hitting, no name players.
It just depends who’s hot at the time.
So the Yankees gave up a non-top prospect for a guy under team control for the next two years at a position (infield) where they’ve gotten poor production? It’s basically taking over Prado’s contract?
wow, Prado for O’Brien? How did the D’backs pull that off??? Makes no sense if you’re in the Yankee camp.
IF/OF flexibility for a non-top prospect seems like a win to me. They’re on the hook for the contract but they’ve got the $$$.
Jeter’s replacement.
I like Prado’s versatility. That will address the Yankees depth issues, and he’s a more consistent hitter than Kelly Johnson was
Yankees just simply don’t have any young, expandable pieces like the A’s and Tigers do. Their motto this year has been pick up pieces off the scrap heap and see if they can turn into gold. Early on, McCarthy and Headley have done well. It’ll be interesting to see if the Yankees can actually keep ground with the Orioles and Blue Jays moving forward on the season.
Agreed
Yanks could have matched jackson and Drew S
Interesting that neither Price nor Lester were moved for “Elite Prospects”.
Except the Rays didn’t want to trade Price to the Yankees and there could also be more to that deal that is yet to be reported. It’s unlike Friedman to get fleeced in a deal for a stud pitcher.
With. What exactly?
You are assuming this would be the cost of trading within the division, which it probably wasn’t. Simply matching the deal wasn’t going to get it done.
Tanaka’s not coming back and how exactly is Martin Prado and his 24 + million dollars owed a scrap heap pick up??
O was that the fake Sherman one?
Gardner and Phelps > Jackson and Drew S
Drew Smyly is a pretty darn good arm and only 25. He’s not a prospect anymore, but he’s a recent graduate from that class lol. He’s going to continue to get better.
Even if that isn’t true the Yankees system is better than the tigers.
Phelps is not smyly, smyly much better, much younger and lefty, and why would yanks trade their best OF signed to a very good deal?
Gardner and Jackson? Not even close. Garder is much better than Jackson.
yeah that was among the phony ones.
And the A’s
Fair point. I forgot for a moment about that extension Prado signed with the D-Backs before 2013.
My argument was that the Yankees haven’t exactly been after flashy, star players such as Samardzija, Lester, and Price and have instead been focusing on veteran guys under the radar who have had success in the majors leagues. Will this method work? The odds are against the Yankees. But in a division that hasn’t been as strong as it once was and doesn’t have a clear favorite, the Yankees could strike lightning in a bottle with these acquisitions.
I think he’ll do well for the Rays. But for a star pitcher who was the face of the franchise (along with Longo) who was cost controlled for another year after this, I think the Rays could have gotten more. They must really think that Franklin and Smyly are locks to get better at the major league level.
He is 2 years younger and they both have similar stats this year and smyly pitches in a better home ball park. Not saying they would trade Gardner but they could definitely match what Detroit gave up. It was an awful trade for Tampa
Brett Gardner will never have more trade value than he has right now. It remains to be seen if this season is a fluke or a sign of him coming into his own. If I was Brian Cashman, I would only have considered including Gardner in a package for Price if I have a negotiating window, giving me the chance to lock him up long-term.
If Pineda had not been injured and was having a productive season, he could have been packaged for Price as well, but once again, only if the Yankees were able to get a negotiating window with him.
The Yankees would most certainly have to pay a premium over what the Tigers gave up to get Price. I would have been willing to throw in Peter O’Brien, who the Yankees gave away to get Martin Prado, which makes no sense to me, especially after trading Kelly Johnson for Stephen Drew, or Gary Sanchez.
I wonder if the Rays would have been interested in trading Ben Zobrist for Martin Prado and $15MM.
“Cost-controlled” is relative. Price’s final arb year would probably put him up to at least $20MM. I imagine the Tigers plan to extend him before that becomes an issue.
Yeah, 20M next year is not exactly controlled.
True.
But if the Tigers try to re-sign Price, does that not mean they go after Scherzer? I imagine whatever Scherzer gets, Price will get more given he has had more success and for a longer period of time. Not to mention Price is two years younger than Scherzer.
Possible that they picked up Price (in part) because they’re concerned Scherzer will demand too much, and so they’re hedging their bets. Also providing some leverage against his demands (“You wouldn’t be the best starter on this team if we extended you, Max”), while simultaneously giving them some wiggle room on Price’s demands (if they can retain Scherzer at a reasonable sum, they don’t get held hostage by Price).
Also, while Price is the better pitcher, and he’s younger, they have about the same number of MLB and MiLB innings on their arms, which is probably a better indicator of how long their careers are likely to last.
The funny thing is, even before acquiring Price, Scherzer still might not have been the best starter on the team. Anibal Sanchez, who gets over shadowed by guys like Scherzer and Verlander, has been terrific since the start of 2013. He has a better FIP, H/9, HR/9, and BB/9. Scherzer, however, does have the better era, era+, and higher strikeout rate. But I think they’re very close to one another in terms of greatness.
Price already said he doesn’t want to play for the Yankees.
O’Brien is Shane Spencer 2.0
Yeah, but Sanchez is benefiting from a pretty favorable BABIP. That .273 probably isn’t sustainable, while 2013’s K rate is probably unsustainable.