Jon Berti, an infielder, was traded to the Yankees by the Marlins and Rays.
In a three-team transaction made on Wednesday, the New York Yankees acquired veteran infielder Jon Berti from the Miami Marlins in an effort to bolster their infield following the injury to DJ LeMahieu.
Two outfield prospects, John Cruz from the Yankees and Shane Sasaki from the Tampa Bay Rays, were traded to the Marlins in exchange. Concurrently, the Yankees traded catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Rays.
Jon Berti: A Flexible Infielder and Possible LeMahieu Substitute
With a bruised right foot, LeMahieu—the Yankees’ normal third baseman and expected leadoff hitter—was placed on the injured list, forcing Oswaldo Cabrera and now Jon Berti to fill in as stopgaps.
In 2019, Berti, 34, became well-known in the majors at age 29. Since then, he has played shortstop, second base, and third base with the Marlins, accumulating a strong batting record of.258/.338/.367 with 23 home runs and 91 stolen bases in 432 games.
Berti would take care of the Yankees’ long-standing offseason objective of obtaining a backup baseman after LeMahieu returns, maybe by the end of April.
“For this reason, I believe it was crucial that we found a man like Jon Berti.” In addition to being a multi-position starter in this league, he is also an excellent utility player who can cover a wide range of positions, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who made the announcement on Wednesday. “Hopefully, you do get whole here early on,” Boone said.
“Till a few hours ago, I was worried about our bench and infield depth and how we would manage it to some extent. That seems to have greatly improved today.
Rays’ Needs for Catching Dealt with through Rortvedt Acquisition
The Rays had just one catcher on their 40-man roster prior to Rortvedt, who is out of options. Rene Pinto, who is expected to start, was the only catcher the team had.
Being a lefty hitter, it theoretically kind of complements our catching situation and really our entire lineup. We’ve taken out a few lefties,” Kevin Cash, manager of the Rays, stated. “He comes from a very reputable company. He’ll adjust to this place rather nicely. We don’t play a lot of guys that we don’t believe are strong defensive players. And, defensively, we do think highly of him.
Exchange of Prospects: The Future of Sasaki and Cruz
Despite his modest.489 OPS, Rortvedt, 26, is respected mostly for his defensive abilities and brings 71 games of major league experience to the field.
Cruz, 18, signed from the Dominican Republic, and Sasaki, 23, drafted in 2019, both have potential for the future even though they haven’t played above Single-A levels.
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