DEAL WITH IT
Yanks once again got a ‘special’ player from trade with D’backs
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Diamondbacks have had infield depth — and that is why the Yankees have their starting left side of the infield.
In December 2014 — as part of a three-team trade also involving the Tigers — Didi Gregorius was sent from the Diamondbacks to the Yankees.
At that time, Arizona had Nick Ahmed and Chris Owings at shortstop, making Gregorius expendable, plus they had veterans Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington at second, and the emerging Jake Lamb and recent Cuban signing Yasmany Tomas at third while Brandon Drury was incubating in the upper minors.
What Arizona did not have was enough rotation depth, so then-GM Dave Stewart prioritized getting lefty Robbie Ray from the Tigers in the transaction.
The baseball operations administration changed when Stewart was dismissed after 2016, but the area of depth remained the same. Arizona needed a righty power bat who played the corner outfield, especially after J.D. Martinez’s free-agent exit to Boston. The D’Backs still had Ahmed and Owings up the middle, and now Ketel Marte and Daniel Descalso as well. While Lamb had established himself as a productive third baseman. So in another three-team trade — this one with Tampa Bay the other party — Drury was sent to the Yankees last month. Drury’s best position was third, but Lamb’s presence moved him to second. He will mostly play third for the Yankees, who — like with Gregorius — sense there is still a ceiling not yet reached.
“He was a tough one for us to trade,” D‘backs GM Mike Hazen said. “He is a good player. He is versatile. There is still untapped power in his swing. Great kid. Baseball rat. We had to trade him to be able to get Steven Souza. There was no other way around that. That was our decision. We had to include him in the deal or we weren’t going to get Souza. We had depth in the middle infield and we didn’t in the outfield.” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo gushed of Drury: “A great competitor, a great teammate. Cares on a pretty impressive level about being the absolute best he can be every single day. The Yankees got a special player. Very quiet. Very intense. But very attentive.”
Drury hit 13 homers in 480 plate appearances, but Lovullo mentioned the stillgrowing power by noting the 37 doubles and stating “absolutely” there is more to come for Drury.
“He might hit 30 home runs this year,” Lovullo said. “I feel like that is a strong possibility. He has competitive at-bats every single night. He felt he had a disappointing year because he hasn’t quite gotten to the point of being a complete hitter in his mind. The best players are never satisfied, and that is where Brandon fits. … Everyone understood the reason we had to give somebody up like that is because we needed a piece in right field. When you trade for something you need, you are going to give up something you like as well. So, we just prioritized the right-field position and got Steven Souza for that spot.”
You need to be careful where you walk in the Diamondbacks clubhouse, or you risk bumping into a former New York backup catcher — Anthony Recker and Josh Thole (from the Mets) and John Ryan Murphy (from the Yankees).
What is amazing is the Diamondbacks likely will take three catchers and none come from the New York trio. Alex Avila and Jeff Mathis are the primary catchers and the versatile Chris Herrmann would be the third catcher.