We are upon another big trade this offseason. Just a week after the Oakland A's sent Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees are set to acquire shortstop Didi Gregorius from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team deal.
The Detroit Tigers are also included in the trade and they're poised to receiver Yankees' starting pitcher Shane Greene, while the D-Backs get two pitchers from the Tigers, according to Sweeny Murti of WFAN. New York's acquisition of Gregorius would fill their void at the shortstop position following Derek Jeter's retirement. The deal is not yet completed and sources say the three teams are working to finalize it.
Gregorius, the 24-year-old centerpiece of the trade, has played only 191 games in three MLB seasons, but is expected to be a solid addition for New York. The youngster sports a left-handed bat and has a career stat line of .243/.313/.366 with 83 runs scored, 13 home runs and 57 RBIs. Based on reports coming out of New York, this move should solidify their infield as Gregorius will potentially join Martin Prado (third base), Rob Refsnyder (second base) and Mark Teixeira (first base). However, nothing is official yet.
The D-Backs have good middle infield depth and are looking to improve their pitching staff, which explains them sacrificing Gregorius for two pitchers. Starter Robbie Ray will be one of them and the other is unknown at this point (there's also a possibility that other player is minor-league infielder Domingo Leyba). Ray has only made six major league starts, but is a 23-year-old left-hander that Arizona can work into the rotation with fellow youngsters Patrick Corbin, Jeremy Hellickson and Archie Bradley.
Detroit will receive the 26-year-old Shane Greene. The right-hander was promoted to the big leagues last season and was solid in his first 14 starts, compiling a 5-4 record with a 3.78 ERA and 1.398 WHIP. He's young and has potential, which means the Tigers might be looking ahead to life without David Price and Rick Porcello, who will become free agents after the 2015 season.
By trading Greene, the Yankees may have to ensure they sign another starter heading into next season since the health of C.C. Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka are in doubt.
