Far too many things happened on the Yankees trade front over the past 48 hours to cover comprehensively, but I’d like to touch on two of them that may not be getting as much attention as some of the splashier moves.
The Yankees traded Oswald Peraza to the Angels for international bonus pool money and Wilberbson de Pena – an 18-year-old whose highest level is the Dominican summer league.
I’ve said this before but, to me anyway, this can’t be repeated enough: The manner in which the Yankees have mishandled the shortstop position over the past six years is hysterical to anyone who isn’t a Yankees fan – so much so that we only have enough space today to rehash the Peraza situation.
In August of 2021, Peraza was the 64th best prospect in all of MLB according to MLB.com and the third highest in the Yankees organization. Instead of giving him a shot at the shortstop position on the big-league level in the second half of 2022, the team stuck with Isiah Kiner-Falefa instead. Then instead of giving Peraza a shot going into 2023, the team decided to go the Anthony Volpe route instead.
If you want to say those decisions were defensible at the time, that’s fair – but that logic dictates that he should have been traded when he could have yielded a significant return. Bungled isn’t a strong enough word.
On a less frustrating note was the acquisition of Jose Caballero for Everson Periera. Periera, after struggling over 103 PA with the big club in 2023, returned to Scranton and commenced smashing baseballs for two seasons. Still only 24 years old, Periera has hit 29 home runs over his last 496 PA in Triple A, with impressive OBP/SLG lines of .346/.512, and .357/.507 over the past two seasons.
But Caballero is an interesting player. He plays six positions* – all three outfield spots and the three difficult infield spots – and, interestingly, plays shortstop very well. He’s also a plus baserunner (90th percentile baserunning run value) and although his career wRC+ is only 87, that’s the exact same career wRC+ and the Yankees current shortstop, who is no longer a good fielder or baserunner.
Plot thickens…
Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments, or yell at me on the “My Baseball Page” on Blue Sky.
Recommended reading: “The Bronx Zoo”, by Sparky Lyle.
Want to support MBP? If you’re an Amazon shopper, use any of the product links on this page to take you there. If you make a purchase – any purchase, not necessarily the product you clicked on – Amazon might make a tiny donation to MBP. Or…
Buy me a coffee?
If you like the blog and would like to see more of it, feel free to buy me a coffee. I prefer the bougee stuff, but I’ll take a Wawa if you’re buying. (Shrug.) It may not seem like much, but every little bit goes a long way toward keeping the blog rolling – thanks in advance!
$1.98
mybaseballpage.com 