Marlins trade Berti to Yanks on eve of Opening Day
The Miami Marlins on Wednesday traded utility player Jon Berti to the New York Yankees as part of a three-team deal.
The Marlins have acquired outfielder prospect John Cruz from the Yankees and outfielder prospect Shane Sasaki in the trade. The Yankees sent catcher Ben Rorvedt to the Rays to complete the trade.
Berti has been with the Marlins since 2019 and was the club’s longesttenured position player. He hit .258 with a .705 OPS, 118 RBI, 23 home runs,
208 runs scored and 91 steals in 432 career games with Miami. He played all over the field, logging time at second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield spots.
In 2022, Berti led the National League with 41 stolen bases.
“We’re really appreciative of everything Jon gave to the organization,” Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said. “He was here for a long time and really helped with the growth and evolution of this organization and will always be a big part of what we’re doing it. It was a very difficult trade to make.”
Cruz, a 17-year-old outfielder who ranked as the Yankees’ No. 29 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is entering his third season of pro ball. He hit .260 with an .859 OPS in his first two seasons — playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2022 and the
Florida Complex League in 2023.
Sasaki, 23, was a thirdround pick by the Rays in 2019. He reached High A last season. He has a career .302 average and .841 OPS in the minors along with 86 stolen bases in 96 attempts.
“You want to take one eye on the future and one eye on the present,” Bendix said. “This trade probably helps us a little bit more in the future, but I’m also optimistic about the younger players that we have here that can step up in the short term.”
Berti’s trade opens a position-player spot on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster. A couple potential options on the 40-man roster include Jonah Bride (to give Marlins a true third baseman on the roster to back up Jake Burger) and Dane Myers (primarily an outfielder but was one of the Marlins’ biggest standouts in spring training). Xavier Edwards likely would have been an option as well, but he dealt with injury for the back half of spring training.
The Marlins begin the season at 4:10 p.m. Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at loanDepot park.