More moves may be coming, as No. 2 started Michael Pineda was scratched from Thursday’s scheduled start and placed on the
disabled list with a forearm strain, opening a hole in an already unsteady starting rotation. Meanwhile, division rival Toronto added former Cy Young winner David Price to their pitching staff, meaning the Yankees, already in the market for another starter, could increase their efforts to bolster the rotation.
Meanwhile, Ackley arrives to add versatility and promise to an older team with a shaky infield and unappealing left-handed options on the bench.
Ackley, the second overall pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of North Carolina, was once considered one of the best prospects in baseball.
His college teammate, Yankee reliever Adam Warren, remembers how Ackley dominated the collegiate game.
“I think he’s extremely talented,” Warren said. “He’s a good guy, works hard. It’s just one of those things where you hope he can fit in with the club and I think he will. He’s super quiet. I think he plays hard and just going off what I know at Carolina playing with him, he’s super-talented and a gamer.”
In the majors, however, the line-drive hitting second baseman scouts saw at UNC never materialized. Ackley had a strong rookie season in 2011, but regressed immediately after. He bounced back with 14 home runs in 2014, but has struggled through 2015. The Mariners’ acquisition of Robinson Cano in 2014 ended Ackley’s days at second base, shifting him almost exclusively to the outfield. Ackley has also played 18 games at first base in his five-year major league career.
“He’s a guy that over the last four, five years has played about five different positions,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “So he’s a guy that we feel we could move everywhere.”
But Girardi said they don’t feel comfortable inserting Ackley regularly at second base with so little time at the position in recent years. That makes it more likely that Stephen Drew’s roster spot is safe for the time being, and increases the chance that Garrett Jones—also a left-handed backup who plays first base and the corner outfield spots—will be the roster casualty.
The Yankees won’t make that move until Ackley joins them Friday in Chicago, Girardi said. Meanwhile, Drew, Jones, and, to a lesser extent, Brendan Ryan all have Ackley’s acquisition looming over them.
To get Ackley, the Yankees gave up outfielder Ramon Flores and pitcher Jose Ramirez, both from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Both have spent some time on the major league roster, but neither played well enough to stick. They offer some upside, but were unlikely to be more than role players for the Yankees long-term.
While Flores and Ramirez were expendable, the Yankees have been reluctant to include any of their top prospects—outfielder Aaron Judge, pitcher Luis Severino, and infielders Greg Bird and Jorge Mateo—in trades for any of the big-name, rental pitchers on the market. As a result, they have watched their foes snap up top starters. Price headed to the rival Blue Jays, while the Kansas City Royals already acquired righty Johnny Cueto and the Texas Rangers snagged lefty Cole Hamels.click here for details
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