The Yankees have acquired infielder/outfielder Tim Locastro from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Righty Drew Finley and cash considerations will head to Los Angeles in return.
Locastro was dropped from the L.A. 40-man yesterday, among many other moves. He has experience all over the diamond, with most of his time in the minors coming at second base and shortstop, but was announced by the Yanks as an outfielder.
It seems his likeliest fit, though, is as a pure utility piece; perhaps he’ll have a shot at competing with Ronald Torreyes (assuming he’s tendered), Hanser Alberto, and any other potential contenders to take up a reserve role. It’s not hard to see why the Yankees had interest, given that broad defensive background combined with Locastro’s generally productive numbers at the plate in the upper minors. He’s a .283/.354/.401 hitter through 626 Double-A plate appearances and has turned in an eyebrow-raising .307/.402/.443 slash in his 471 trips to the dish at the game’s highest level.
Finley, a 22-year-old righty, has yet to move past the low A level despite three attempts. In 120 innings as a professional over four seasons, he carries an unsightly 5.48 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9. That said, Finley was a third-round pick back in 2015, and it could well be that the Dodgers still think there’s some talent to be unlocked.
Blockbuster!
Na, a blockbuster is when they first combined peanut butter & jelly!!!
Chocolates and peanut butter
I know who Jelly is here but who is Peanut Butter?
No idea who either of these people are
Cash Considerations is actually not a person.
This means that Cashman will consider if he needs to add more.
My kind of humor.
There goes my fantasy team. :)
lolol, that makes both of us!
They’re something we’re not……professional baseball players.
i went to elementary school with finley’s oldest sister back in san diego, so i know half of these people at least…
Did you get on a single or double?
Outfield depth.
Since it’s the Yankees I’m sure this guy will be an all star in 2019
If he was a Met he’d get hurt putting on his pants.
Post of the day!
Another steal by cashgod!
“At the game’s highest level” made me think I’d missed Locastro putting up all-star numbers. Turns out that’s his AAA line.
That’s what they meant…ha
I guess “the game” is referring to minor league baseball instead of baseball generally? I’ve seen the writers here refer to AAA ball as the penultimate level, which makes sense. Oh well, I’ve now wasted more time discussing it than I wasted clicking on his name to see his numbers originally.
My guess is his age, punch hitting and team contract control
Wow, acquiring a guy for the brawls… Nice!! :P
The fall guy to throw a few hay makers during benches clearing brawls.
Bringing a whole new definition to designated hitter.
Pinch hitting…sorry
Good for Locastro. He’s a butcher in the inf, but he can definitely fly. He was so far down LAs OF depth chart he might be a decent utility guy for NY. At the very least he’s a pinch runner specialist down the stretch/playoffs.
Bet he ends up on waivers again. Just you watch.
I wouldn’t doubt it. Probably a guy they think they can slip through waivers that provides at least value on the bases down the stretch.
If the Dodgers thought Locastro had much chance of being slipped through waivers they probably would have tried it themselves. Instead they opted for the guaranteed return in Finley and cash. My bet is the Yankees end up with nothing to show for this trade.
They clearly did try it. And the Yankees clearly would have claimed him. They didn’t just trade him out of the blue, he was DFAd. That’s my thing it’s the perfect time to try it with where rosters stand.
Regardless though the yanks didn’t give up much of anything. It was a guy that was probably on his way out whether cut or traded. So it’s not like it matters much if he gets claimed.
Some team would have claimed him, but not necessarily the Yankees since their Rule 5 priority would be low. They got the first seat at that table by offering something in trade. My point though is it seems unlikely that he stays with the Yankees because like with the Dodgers he’d be way down the depth chart. He will probably end up on waivers again and claimed by a team with a real 4/5 outfielder need, which is what would have happened had he gone to the Rule 5 draft.
I’m kind of confused a bit here with what you’re saying. Locastro is a good depth option for some team,but had absolutely no road to this roster. So Im sure the Dodgers were indifferent losing him. I think he probably clears waivers at this point, because rosters are pretty wrapped up. Even if he were rule 5 eligible, I’m not sure anyone would have drafted him. He just doesn’t have the upside to roster him. Options are valuable for him right now.
I’m saying he might find a place on some team’s 25-man roster, but not on either the Dodgers or the Yankees. I suspect if he is waived by the Yankees he will be claimed by a team with less depth. I’m also saying if the Dodgers thought he would clear waivers they would have tried to get him through waivers, not because he has a clear path to the majors on the Dodgers, but because they love depth and redundancy.
Do the Yanks have to add him to the 40?
No they just have to send a couple 40s to the commissioners office.
Manfred does an awesome Edward 40 hands impression during the holiday season.
Definitely worth a shot for the Yanks. These 40 man roster crunches sometimes pave the way for a player to get to MLB and live his dream
Ithaca College representin’!
Is Major League Baseball not the games highest level?
I knew all along he was going to the Yankees. This just makes things so much clearer now
Other than an injured Frazier, Yankees have zero MLB ready outfield depth in the minors. Locastro is Shane Robinson 2.0 just in case Gardner, Ellsbury, and Frazier struggle or aren’t ready to go.
They don’t have any OF depth anymore because they made stupid trades last year of Jake Cave and Tyler Austin in which they got nothing of value in return.
There would have been no room on the bench for Austin this year since he is out of options.
What a stupid comment. Jake Cave was in the Yankees system forever. He already got returned once from the Rule 5 Draft. They got Lance Lynn for him and he gave them innings. Was Cave suppose to stay in the minors forever waiting for all the Yankees OF to get hurt? He wasn’t good enough to get a spot on the Yankees.
Austin is a mediocre platoon 1B. Not an OFer. The Yankees sold high on him
They’ll have plenty of OF depth after the sign Harper.
Ok, Angles, Dodgers, Losers
Locastro from Ithaca College is back in NY.
Finley from SD is back in SoCal.
For a couple of players that are ‘longshots’ – this was a great deal on personal levels !
If the baseball thing works out … all the better !
Good Luck to both of you !!!
Looks like we just found the next headliner for Yankees fans for potential message board trades involving Corey Kluber or Carlos Carrasco.
An interesting little wrinkle in this trade. Drew Finley is the son of David Finley, Dodgers VP of international and amateur scouting. So he scouted his own kid and liked what he saw. Ain’t that sweet?
That actually makes it an even better trade !
LA didn’t originally draft him … but the Dodgers found a way for the kid to ‘come back home’ !
…and the Locastro kid is a New Yorker !
Congratulations to both GM’s !!!
Win-Win !
…and both remain longshots; but they can now try their best with their ‘home teams’ …
Nice under-story !
Oh sure, even though he’s unlikely to get any closer to home than Chattanooga. The last time I can remember nepotism in baseball working out was when Tommy Lasorda insisted on the Dodgers drafting his godson, Mike Piazza.
Point-taken.
… or Point-given ?
New to this blog…..can anybody explain why the Yanks cannot realize that they have a great utility infielder in Ronald Torreyes ? Cashman keeps collecting utility players, but they seemingly overlook Ronald, who always hits, and is always ready to come off the bench. I would have no problem in seeing him play everyday until Didi comes back. He’s also a great player to have in the clubhouse….