Trade details: New York Yankees acquire RHP David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates for C/1B Rafael Flores, C Edgleen Perez and OF Brian Sanchez
Yankees acquire RHP Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies for 2B Roc Riggio and LHP Ben Shields
The Yankees upgraded their bullpen with two moves Thursday, neither of which required them to dip into their deep well of starting pitching prospects or required them to move the jewel of their system, George Lombard Jr.
Bednar gives the Yankees another high-leverage relief option from the right side, succeeding as much because he throws strikes as anything else, as his pitches by themselves aren’t elite — he locates them well and doesn’t walk many guys, which is kind of a welcome change from the norm in the late innings. He still averages 97 mph on the four-seamer, so he’s not just a finesse guy, with the curveball probably his best weapon and a viable split as a third pitch. He gets lefties out at least as well as he gets righties out and has bounced back well from an off year in 2024, when he walked a few more than normal and fell prey to some bad luck on contact.
Flores is the key return for the Pirates, a bat-first catcher who’ll need work to stick behind the plate but who has at least shown enough to be a backup catcher who has added value as a pinch hitter and occasional DH.
Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022 by (gasp!) a scout, Yankees area scout Dave Keith, Flores has a great, efficient swing that generates above-average to plus power with the bat speed to catch up to good fastballs. His approach has deteriorated as he’s moved up to Double A and Triple A this year, enough that he probably can’t be an everyday guy if he has to move out from catching. He doesn’t have a great arm and his receiving is just fair, although he’s clearly worked at it and moves pretty well for a bigger guy (listed at 6-foot-4, 232 pounds). He’ll turn 25 in November, so odds are this is what he is — a good complementary player — with a very small chance he’ll turn into something more.
I wrote in the offseason that Perez projected as a regular because he gets on base and will stick behind the plate as a 55 (out of the 20-80 scouting scale) overall defender, but that “below-average power” would keep him from becoming a star. Well, I got that last part right, I guess, as he’s slugging .236 as a 19-year-old in Low A, with a hard-hit rate around 30 percent. He needs to get a lot stronger to be even close to what I projected for him, and while he’s young enough that that’s possible, he’s already in full-season ball and is going to get blown up by High-A pitching next year if he doesn’t do something.
Sanchez, on the IL for Low-A Tampa, has a better stat line than Perez but a harder path to everyday status, as he’s probably a corner outfielder who’s hit for power but doesn’t have great batted-ball metrics to back it up. They’re both lottery tickets in the sense that their probabilities are low and they have some upside, with Perez at least having the advantage of position and defense.
The Yankees also sent a pair of minor leaguers to Colorado for reliever Bird, one of whom, Riggio, went on a tear earlier this season and attracted attention from Yankees fans. He’s at 18 homers on the year, despite a 5-9 frame and maybe 45 power, because he’s trying to yank everything to the pull side. It’s below average hit and field grades and he’s going to play second or left field.
Shields sits in the low 90s with an average to 55 slider that has good horizontal break, giving him a shot as a middle reliever. He’d be a great story if he got to the majors, as he signed as an undrafted free agent out of George Mason at age 24.
(Photo of David Bednar: Justin Berl / Getty Images)
Source link
