The Yankees made a switch to meet one of their needs on Wednesday.
No, they did not hire DJ LeMahieu again or fill one of their two open spaces.
What general manager Brian Cashman did was strike a deal with the San Diego Padres for Greg Allen, Joel Newman of the New York Post first reported.
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The Yankees traded minor league reliever James Reeves for Allen, a fast-paced outside defender who tries to compete for a spot in the opening team in spring training
Allen, 26, played for the Cleveland Indians and Padres last season, hitting 0.160 with four strokes in 26 heats in 16 games. He was traded to San Diego on August 31 in a blockbuster that sent star Mike Clevinger to the Padres.
Considering that the Yankees are believed to be working on a small budget this off-season, this exchange may prevent Cashman from attempting to re-sign free agent outfielder Brett Gardner, who hopes to return.
Gardner, 37, has been with the Yankees for his entire professional career and has dropped 0.233 in 49 games last season, his 13th in the championships. Two weeks ago, Gardner had the impression that the Yankees would talk to him about the return after the organization found out whether she rehired LeMahieu or not, her agent Joe Bick told NJ Advance Media.
Allen, 27, is a .239 hitter with eight homers, 57 RBI and 32 RBI in 221 games with Indians and Padres since 2017. His best season was in 2018, when he hit 0.257 with two homers, 20 RBI and 21 steals in 25 attempts of more than 91 games with the Indians.
Born in San Diego, Allen was summoned by the Indians in the sixth round of 2014.
Reeves, 27, was chosen by the Yankees in the 10th round in 2015. He was not ranked in the top 30 candidates by the MLB Pipeline, but he has very good career numbers. In five professional seasons, Reeves is 20-7 with an ERA 2.30 with 350 eliminations and 111 walks in 293 1/3 entries in 137 games, 12 as a starter. He pitched for Double-A Trenton in 2019, going 7-2 with an ERA of 1.87 in 33 games with 83 eliminations in 67 1/3 innings.
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