The New York Yankees and San Diego Padres are continuing the early trade action this MLB offseason.
New York send infielder Jose Pirela to San Diego in exchange for prospect pitcher Ronald Herrera. The trade was first reported by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News and both teams confirmed the move shortly thereafter.
The Padres also announced the trade in a press release.
#Yankees acquire RHP Ronald Herrera from Padres for INF Jose Pirela.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 11, 2015
The #Padres have acquired INF/OF Jose Pirela from the Yankees in exchange for RHP Ronald Herrera: https://t.co/fjR8VTlujm
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) November 11, 2015
Pirela, 25, failed to impress the Yankees in his first 44 games at the MLB level. The team hoped he could provide a stable solution at second base, but he batted just .255/.275/.367 with 13 runs scored, 1 home run and 8 RBI and his fielding was also a bit of a question mark.
As a result, general manager Brian Cashman has made it known the team will be exploring second basemen on the free agent and trade markets this offseason.
Perhaps the Padres see something in Pirela that the Yankees don't or at least plan to use him differently. San Diego also took Yangervis Solarte off the Yankees' hands last offseason and he ended up playing a fairly big role with the Pads in 2015.
On the other hand, New York will receive Herrera, a 20-year-old prospect pitcher. The right-hander reached Double-A this season after beginning his professional career at the age of 17 with the Oakland Athletics.
Herrera went 8-7 with a 4.08 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 104 strikeouts in 26 games (25 starts), totaling 145 2/3 innings, which was a career-high season total.
The Yankees have experienced countless injuries to their pitching staff over the past couple of seasons and Cashman is likely looking to avoid that in subsequent years by building up the farm system to have readily available arms to promote in the event someone goes down.
Shortly after that deal, the Yankees shipped catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder Aaron Hicks, both clubs confirmed.
#Yankees acquire OF Aaron Hicks from Twins for catcher John Ryan Murphy.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 11, 2015
OFFICIAL: #MNTwins acquire C John Ryan Murphy (@JRMurphy513) from #Yankees for OF Aaron Hicks. pic.twitter.com/6I7M9GsQbJ
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 11, 2015
Murphy served as the backup to Brian McCann this past year after New York traded Francisco Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates last offseason. Murphy, 24, posted a .734 OPS in 67 games and was among the better backup catchers in the MLB, but one of the priorities for Cashman this offseason was acquiring outfield depth.
The Twins somewhat surprisingly moved Hicks, who performed well in 2015. The 26-year-old batted .256/.323/.398 with 48 runs scored, 11 home runs, 33 RBI and 13 stolen bases in just 97 games and seemingly turned the corner after struggling in his first two MLB seasons. However, the Twins have highly touted outfield prospects Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, both of whom could be ready for the start of 2016. It's believe rookie Miguel Sano could also be moved to the outfield.
Catcher Kurt Suzuki could also hit free agency after 2016, so Minnesota was probably looking ahead in that regard.
