clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Yankees acquire Didi Gregorius in three-team trade with Diamondbacks, Tigers

The three-team deal involves four players.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees have acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius in a three-team deal with the Tigers and Diamondbacks, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The deal will send right-hander Shane Greene to Detroit, with left-hander Robbie Ray and minor-league infielder Domingo Leyba heading to Arizona, as first mentioned by Sweeny Murti of WFAN and Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com.

Gregorius, who turns 25 in February, will be handed the tall task of being Derek Jeter's replacement in the Bronx. The Yankees have been rumored to be looking at all sorts of options to fill their hole at shortstop, but their search is now complete with the addition of Gregorius, who is under team control through the 2019 season and has been coveted by many teams in trade talks over the last few seasons.

In 191 major league games over three seasons, Gregorius is a lifetime .243/.313/.366 hitter with thirteen home runs and 57 RBI. He is projected to be a good defender despite some struggles during his first few tastes of the majors.

Greene, 26, posted a 3.78 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) for the Yankees in 2014, and is a candidate to join David Price, Rick Porcello, Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander in a Tigers' rotation that is likely to lose Max Scherzer to free agency and may undergo further changes as the team shops both Price and Porcello on the trade market. Greene was the Yankees' fifteenth round pick in 2009 is regarded for his deceptive delivery and above-average fastball.

Ray finds himself involved in a major trade for the second winter in a row, almost exactly a year after being dealt from the Nationals to Detroit in exchange for Doug Fister. The left-hander struggled in his major league debut for Detroit last season, posting an 8.16 ERA in 28.2 innings while pitching to a 4.22 ERA mark in 100.1 innings at Triple-A. The 23-year old was recently ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the Tigers' system by Baseball America, and is a candidate to join the D-Backs' rotation along with Wade Miley, Josh Collmenter, Jeremy Hellickson, and Chase Anderson while Patrick Corbin and Bronson Arroyo rehab from Tommy John surgery.

Leyba, 19, was recently ranked as the fifth best prospect in the Tigers' system by Baseball America after hitting .323/.360/.423 with two home runs and 24 RBI in 67 games split between Low-A Connecticut and Single-A Western Michigan. He is thought of as a second baseman at the major league level, and is known to be slightly above-average with every tool.