Yankees get outfielder Dustin Ackley in trade with Mariners
Somebody get Dustin Ackley a razor, he’s been traded to the New York Yankees.
Ackley, the very-much-bearded Seattle Mariners outfielder, will be headed to the Bronx in a three-player deal that Ackley confirmed himself to reporters Thursday outside the Mariners clubhouse.
Seattle is getting 23-year-old outfielder Ramon Flores and 25-year-old pitcher Jose Ramirez from the Yanks. Jack Curry of the YES Network was first to report the trade.
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The Yankees famously don’t allow beards, so Ackley needs to shave before he reports to the team (lots have done it, Dustin, join the club). But the Yanks do like left-handed bats, so they’re hoping that Ackley can turn himself around on their short porch.
This isn not the type of earth-shattering move we’ve seen from the Yankees over the years, especially considering what the Toronto Blue Jays have done this week, but the Bombers are leading the AL East right now, so they’re buying low on Ackley and hoping for the best.
Ackley is a former first-round pick, No. 2 overall in 2009 actually, who has never lived up to his potential. He’s hitting a lackluster .215/.270/.366 this season with six homers and 19 RBIs. Even at his best, Ackley has been up-and-down offensively. He hit .273 as a rookie in 2011, but dipped down to .226 the following season. Last year, his power numbers were up by his standards, hitting 14 homers with 65 RBIs. There’s talent there and the Yankees hope that at age 27, it can still be extracted.
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Though, Ackley has played all but one of his games as an outfielder or DH the last two seasons, they Yankees could return him to where he started — second base. The M’s moved Ackley into the outfield permanently when Robinson Cano signed there, but Ackley played his first two seasons mostly at second. Starter Stephen Drew is hitting .192 this season, so it’s not the worst idea around to see what Ackley can do there. He can also backup the Yankees outfield trio of Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran.
If he takes advantage of Yankee Stadium and starts knocking homers, you can bet Ackley will have somewhere to play down the stretch.
UPDATE: Ackley already shaved. That didn’t take long.
Knowing his new team’s rules, just traded Dustin Ackley sports a distinct new look. pic.twitter.com/YyVRtSttOx
— Dave Sims (@TheDaveSimsShow) July 30, 2015
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
