Get your popcorn ready, Ninja Cash is at it again.
If you were waiting for the Yankees' hot stove to warm up, Brian Cashman might have just brought it to searing levels. The Yankees have a gaping hole at shortstop right now with few attractive options on the free agent market to replace Derek Jeter, so it's not surprising that they've considered trade targets instead. Since the shortstop market is currently led by Jed Lowrie, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Stephen Drew, I certainly don't blame the Yankees at all for trying something more creative. Now, we're seeing rumors that GM Brian Cashman has brought in young Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius. Here's WFAN's Sweeny Murti:
#Yankees working on 3-team deal w/ AZ and DET to land SS Didi Gregorius. Hearing Shane Greene would go to DET, Tigers sending 2 P's to AZ
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) December 5, 2014
Woah. There goes Ninja Cash, potentially striking again with little warn--
Source: Gregorius going to #Yankees. Deal is done.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2014
Oh. Oh my. It's done already. Here are the exact details of the trade:
Source: Deal also includes Greene to #Tigers, Ray to #DBacks and another minor leaguer going from DET to AZ.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2014
Well, the Yankees have a new shortstop now, and it's 24-year-old Didi Gregorius! Shane Greene is now a Tiger, and former Tigers prospect Robbie Ray (acquired in the still-puzzling Doug Fister deal) is now in Arizona. I know some fans are not going to be happy at all about sending a young, cost-controlled starter like Greene who was very good last year in exchange for Gregorius, who hit just .226/.290/.363 last year with an 81 OPS+. However, my first reaction is that shortstops are a very rare commodity and you have to pay a price to get even an average shortstop. Gregorius isn't much of a hitter, but he's only turning 25 next Februrary and already has a nice defensive reputation. There is definitely potentially for growth into a very talented player. Give the bat some time.
Greene was barely a Top 20 Yankees prospect entering the 2014 campaign, and he improved his stock so much that he was used as the Yankees' solution to filling Derek Jeter's spot. That's a tremendous season. As much as it sucks to see him go, the Yankees dealt while Greene's stock was higher than it's ever been before. There's a good chance that he might never have a season like 2014 again--he would be far from the first starter to fade after a solid rookie season. I think he has a legitimate shot to be a steady major leaguer for quite awhile, but I'm okay with the trade.
Pinstripe Alley is sure to have more reactions to this trade soon, but in the short term, it gets the thumbs-up from me. What do you think?
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