It wasn’t too long ago that the New York Yankees were the American League East team pulling off major mid-season trades to best position itself for the stretch run.
Working under a different philosophy, New York has seen the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays add both Troy Tulowitzki and David Price while remaining quiet itself.
Until now.
The Yankees made a semi-minor deal to acquire former No. 2 overall pick Dustin Ackley from the Seattle Mariners for two mid-level prospects.
The #Mariners have acquired OF Ramon Flores and RHP Jose Ramirez from the #Yankees in exchange for OF Dustin Ackley.
— Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) July 30, 2015
Ackley, 27, has not panned out for the Mariners since showing some promise back in 2011 and 2012. This season has seen the outfielder put up a .215 average with a lackluster .270 on-base percentage (both career lows) while hitting just six homers and driving in 19 runs in 85 games. A left-handed hitter, New York envisions he will perform at a much higher clip at Yankee Stadium than the hitter-friendly Safeco Field.
The two players headed to Seattle in the deal are not much to write home about.
According to MLB.com, outfielder Ramon Flores ranked as the Yankees’ 29th-best prospect at the time of the deal. He was signed as an international free agent at the age of 17 back in 2008. Since then, Flores has spend the vast majority of the past seven seasons in the minors, posting a .272 average with 43 homers and 260 RBI’s in a whopping 661 games.
Jose Ramirez is a 25-year-old right-handed reliever that’s seen some time in the big leagues over the past two years. While he’s struggled a great deal in that capacity, the hard-throwing Dominican is averaging well over a strikeout per inning at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over the past two seasons.
One would think that this isn’t the only move the first-place Yankees will pull off before Friday’s deadline. With the reinforcements Toronto added, general manager Brian Cashman and company have to be feeling the heat.
Photo: USA Today Sports