At the deadline, Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees pulled the trigger to bring in infielder Martin Prado from the Arizona Diamondbacks to help out with the woeful infield that has been plaguing the Yankees this season.
In exchange for Prado the Yankees sent catching prospect Peter O’Brien and the option of a player to be named later or cash considerations to Arizona. The Diamondbacks are not contributing any cash to this deal.
Prado is in the second year of a four-year $40 million contract that he signed with Arizona following the 2013 off season trade that sent him from Atlanta to Arizona in exchange in for Justin Upton. He still has around $3.6 million remaining on his contract for this season with the Diamondbacks and around $11 million for both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
His present stat line is .270/.317/.370 in 436 plate appearances in what actually been a down year compared to the last few seasons.
How the Yankees will play Prado will be interesting going forward, as the club has made several other infield trades to solve the problem. Last week the Yankees acquired third basemen Chase Headley from San Diego and Thursday they acquired Stephen Drew from Boston, just a few minutes before the deal for Prado was to be complete.
Prado is the more unique player of the three as he can play multiple positions and serve as a utility player if necessary. However the problem is where to exactly place him in the field?
As of now, the ideal spot could potentially be a platoon at second base with Stephen Drew or at third base with Chase Headley and Zealous Wheeler. What the Yankees are getting is a player who has the talent to provide that necessary jolt to get the ball rolling towards the playoffs.
It appears that the Yankees have addressed, to a certain extent, the issues in their infield. They now have to hash out who will play where. It is just a matter of games to be played to see where the pieces for the Yankees will fall.