Yanks get former MVP McCutchen in deal with Giants
The Yankees have added a former MVP to aid in their push for the pennant.
The Bombers acquired Andrew McCutchen from the Giants early Friday morning in exchange for minor league prospects Abiatal Avelino and Juan De Paula.
McCutchen is batting .255/.357/.415 with 15 homers and 55 RBIs in 130 games. The 2013 NL MVP while with Pittsburgh, the 31-year-old has been the Giants’ regular right fielder since being acquired last offseason and he could fill that spot for the Yankees, who have been without Aaron Judge since his wrist was broken by a pitch in late July. The original thought was Judge could return within three weeks, but he’s yet to even grip a bat in a frustratingly slow recovery.
The team are splitting the remaining $2.4 million on McCutchen’s contract, which helps the Yankees stay below the luxury tax.
Avelino, 23, is the Yankees’ 23rd ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He was seen as a utility player at the beginning of the season, but pushed his way into the midseason prospect ranks following a Double-A stretch in which he slashed .337/.392/.553 in 49 games.
For the season, Avelino is batting .287/.333/.446 with a career-high 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 123 combined games with the Thunder and
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Triple-A Scranton.
“His arm strength is every bit as good as anybody in the game at shortstop,” Thunder manager Jay Bell said. “I wasn’t sold on him coming into this year, but he made some major adjustments and did some great things. He put himself in a really good spot. I think the Giants got a nice player out of the deal.”
De Paula, 20, is rated as the organization’s 26th best prospect. The right-hander went 2-2 with a 1.71 ERA, while averaging nearly a strikeout per inning (46 in 47.1 IP) for Class-A short season Staten Island. Boston at Chicago White Sox L.A. Angels at Houston Baltimore at Kansas City Seattle at Oakland
Saturday’s games
Detroit (TBD) at N.Y. Yankees (Tanaka 9-5), 4:05 p.m.
Boston (Rodriguez 11-3) at Chicago White Sox (Rodon 6-3), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Pena 1-4) at Houston (TBD), 7:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Snell 16-5) at Cleveland (Bieber 8-2), 7:10 p.m.
Toronto (Estrada 7-10) at Miami (Chen 5-9), 7:10 p.m.
Baltimore (Bundy 7-13) at Kansas City (Fillmyer 2-1), 7:15 p.m. Minnesota (Berrios 11-9) at Texas (Gallardo 7-3), 8:05 p.m.
Seattle (Paxton 10-5) at Oakland (Mengden 6-6), 9:05 p.m. Atlanta Philadelphia Washington New York Miami Chicago St. Louis Milwaukee Pittsburgh Cincinnati