Yankees Acquired 2B/OF Dustin Ackley from Mariners

 

 
The Yankees acquired former No. 2 Overall pick Dustin Ackley from the Mariners in return for OF Ramon Flores and P Jose Ramirez.

The Mariners originally drafted Ackley in 2009 with the second overall pick. A former second-baseman and now a converted outfielder, Ackley has been recently struggling from the plate this year. He’s currently hitting .215 with 6 HRs, 19 RBI and a .635 OPS. 

The Yankees have been looking to upgrade at second-base with Stephen Drew only hitting below .200 on the year, but this is not the move most Yankee fans envisioned.  

Ramon Flores on the other hand has been doing very well in Triple A. The 23 year old is hitting .286 with 7 HR and 34 RBI in 73 games for the RailRiders. While, Jose Ramirez who has been shuffled between the big leagues and the minors, has also been doing well. In 32 games for the minor league affiliate he’s 3-0 with a 2.90 ERA and has also collected 10 saves. 

It is unclear why the Yankees made this move since it isn’t much of an upgrade to what they already have with Drew and Ryan. Defensively, Ackley is behind the two mentioned at playing the position. 

Pitching should be the focus for the Yankees as the non-waiver trade deadline is quickly approaching. They need to make moves to improve their rotation if they want to stay a top of the AL East. Yankees GM Brain Cashman should be very busy in the next day.