Yankees acquire Brandon Drury from Diamondbacks in three-team trade

Christian Petersen

Matt Linder

The Yankees made their third trade of the off-season yesterday, acquiring infielder Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks in a three-team deal.  The details of the trade are as follows:
-Yankees Receive: Brandon Drury (Arizona)
-Diamondbacks Receive: Steven Souza (Tampa) and Taylor Widener (New York)
-Rays Receive: Nick Solak (New York), Anthony Banda (Arizona) and two players to be named later from Arizona

Last season, Drury slashed .267/.317/.447 with 13 home runs in 135 games.  In addition to only being 25 years old with room for offensive improvement, Brandon’s positional versatility made him an attractive target for the Yankees.  In just over two major league seasons, Drury has played 136 game at second base, 62 in left field, 41 at third base and 32 in right field.  His ability to play all over the diamond should allow him to replace Chase Headley at the hot corner, Starlin Castro at second or serve as a super utility player.  It should be noted however, that Brian Cashman said the Yankees do not view Drury as a Ben Zobrist-type player due to his below-average outfield defense as well as the Yankees current surplus of talent in the outfield.

In the deal, the Yankees traded away two prospects.  The 23 year old Nick Solak, is a bat-first second basemen, who I ranked as the organization’s 13th best prospect.  Between High-A and Double-A, he hit .297/.384/.452 with 14 home runs across 130 games.  Considering the Yankees’ surplus of middle infield talent, Solak was an expendable piece.  Taylor Widener, 23, is a hard-throwing starting pitcher, who I ranked 26th in my Top 30 prospects.  In High-A Tampa, he threw 119.1 innings with a 3.39 ERA.  There is some concern that his lack of a consistent third pitch will eventually land him in the bullpen.  Like Solak, Widener was moveable because of the Yankees’ depth in power arms.

Since many deals this off-season have been made with the vaunted $197M luxury tax in mind, it is important to note that Drury’s contract adds virtually nothing to the payroll.  He is earning near the league minimum in 2018.  Drury is under contract for the next four years and will enter his three-year arbitration period starting next season.  Hopefully his two remaining minor league options will not have to be exercised, but should he struggle, at least he can be sent to Triple-A.

Lastly, it will be interesting to see how the trade affects the roles of Miguel Andujar, Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada.  If the organization views Drury as the everyday third baseman, does that put Andujar on the trade block?  If the organization views Drury as the utility infielder, does that render Torreyes, Wade and Estrada less valuable?  Hopefully these questions gain clarity as the season progresses.  An outfield and infield overloaded with quality talent is a good problem to have.

If you have any questions, comments or criticisms feel free to reach out to me at mattlinder2@gmail.com