Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin said a trade fell through Wednesday that would have sent Gomez to the New York Mets for infielder Wilmer Flores and injured pitcher Zack Wheeler. The Yanks were linked to relievers Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman for parts of the day, hoping to make a splash by building a superpower bullpen. Should the Yankees have stood pat, or should they have made more moves?
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Ackley, a former first round pick (No. 2, 2009), has never truly lived up to expectations as a top-rated prospect in the Mariners’ system. Unfortunately, he did not show improvement after coming on the scene.
Dustin Ackley packed his things slowly and carefully with his teammates gathered around his locker, watching and providing a few comments to lighten the mood. He’s accumulated 6.8 fWAR in his career. But swing changes, a switch to the outfield and slow starts set back his past three seasons. 215 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and a. 635 OPS in 85 games with Seattle this season. This year, the Yankees did the same thing, except this time they didn’t make a major deal and decided to stand pat until the trade deadline was over. Instead, they traded for someone who can play multiple positions and perhaps supplant the defensively adept but offensively challenged Stephen Drew at second.
Essentially, Ackley is a more versatile version of the player he’s replacing. In 11 career games with the Yankees, the right-hander is 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA. Flores was just the 27th overall prospect in the Yankees organization and Ramirez has had a cup of coffee in the big leagues thus far. We get a nice little player in Flores. Jackson has multi-hit games in four of his last five road games, hitting. He also has limited experience at first base, playing 18 games there between 2011 and 2013. They designated first baseman Garrett Jones for assignment to make room for Ackley on the 25-man roster, reinstated outfielder Slade Heathcott from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Scranton Wilkes-Barre, assigned left-hander Chris Capuano outright to Scranton Wilkes-Barre and released right-hander Esmil Rogers so he can sign with Hanwha (South Korea) in exchange for cash.
Ackley is hitting marginally better at.
Drafted and developed by the Mariners, Ackley said it will be hard to leave his teammates but understood that moves like this come with the territory and said he was excited for a new beginning.
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Manager Joe Girardi has some more versatility on the Yankees bench after New York acquired Dustin Ackley from Seattle on Thursday. It’s just a pity that Ackley isn’t actually all that good for all the focus he has gotten from the Yankees.
