Diamondbacks acquire Steven Souza, Yankees get Brandon Drury in three-team deal

The Diamondbacks, Rays and Yankees officially swung a three-team deal Monday night, with outfielder Steven Souza heading to Arizona and infielder Brandon Drury going to New York. Here’s the breakdown of who is getting who:

DIAMONDBACKS ACQUIRE: OF Steven Souza (from TB), RHP Taylor Widener (from NYY)
YANKEES ACQUIRE: INF Brandon Drury (from ARZ)
RAYS ACQUIRE: 2B Nick Solak (from NYY), LHP Anthony Banda (from ARZ), 2 PTBNL (or ARZ)

Souza will provide an immediate replacement for J.D. Martinez in Arizona, joining Jarrod Dyson as outfield additions for Arizona in the 24 hours since Martinez signed with Boston. The 28-year-old Souza was a 4.2-WAR player and team MVP for Tampa Bay in 2017, hitting .239/.351/.459 with 30 homers and 78 RBI in 148 games. He’s under club control through the 2020 season, giving Arizona three years of his services. He’ll join Dyson, David Peralta and A.J. Pollock in the outfield for Arizona.

Widener, 23, was New York’s 12th-round piick in the 2016 draft and posted a solid 3.39 ERA in 27 starts for Hi-A Tampa last season. He was ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the Yankees’ system by MLB.com. A reliever in college, he has shown improved control in his first two years of pro ball and could project as a major-league starter.

For the Yankees, the acquisition of Drury may be the end of a busy winter in which their infield has been re-shaped with the trades of Chase Headley and Starlin Castro in an effort to clear money for the addition of Giancarlo Stanton. New York was rumored to be interested in adding a veteran free agent like Mike Moustakas or Neil Walker, but will instead add the versatile Drury to ease the pressure on prospects Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar.

Drury, 25, hit .267/.317/.447 with 13 homers in 135 games for Arizona in 2017 and has the ability to play all four infield positions and both corner outfield spots. Immediately, it looks like he projects as the starting third baseman for the Yanks out of camp and can serve as a utilityman behind Torres, Andujar, Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird in the future. Drury, who the Yanks have coveted for years, is under team control for four more seasons

The trade is the fourth significant sell-move of the winter for the rebuilding Rays, who shipped Evan Longoria to the Giants in December and parted with Jake Odorizzi and Corey Dickerson over the weekend. Solak and Banda will join Christian Arroyo, Jermaine Palacios, Matt Krook and Stephen Woods as prospects acquired by the club this winter, with Chris Archer and Alex Colome still sitting on the roster as obvious trade chips.

Solak, 23, was a second-round pick of the Yankees in 2016 and owned a .297/.384/.452 line with 12 homers in 130 games at Hi-A and Double-A last year. The 5-foot-11 ex-Louisville Cardinal was MLB.com’s 8th-best Yankees prospect and the 5th-best second base prospect in baseball and ranks as an offensively gifted player whose future position is questioned by scouts.

Banda, 24, made his major-league debut for Arizona last season, logging a 5.96 ERA in 25.2 innings in the bigs. That promotion capped off a brutal season at Triple-A where Banda, a top-100 prospect in baseball entering the season, posted a 5.39 ERA mark in 22 starts. MLB.com’s most-recent rankings had Banda as the fourth-best prospect for Arizona, citing his pitchability as an indicator that he could return to his 2016 form (2.88 ERA in 150 minor-league innings) with a change of scenery. He’ll likely have a chance to compete for a major-league spot in spring training and could be a factor for the Rays this year.

Jon Heyman and Robert Murray of FanRag Sports, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Joel Sherman of the New York Post all reported parts of the deal.