Yankees acquire Stephen Drew from the Red Sox for Kelly Johnson; also deal ...
BOSTON - Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes were headed to Oakland, while John Lackey was packing his truck for St. Louis and Andrew Miller was Baltimore-bound.
The white flag went up in Boston on Thursday, so much so that the Red Sox even made a trade with the Yankees. But no ace or top reliever came to the Bronx, but rather a shortstop with a .176 batting average who will now be asked to play second base.
On a wild trade-deadline day that saw the Tigers pry David Price away from Tampa Bay and the A's land Lester for Yoenis Cespedes in moves clearly geared for World Series runs, Stephen Drew and Martin Prado were all Brian Cashman could come up with for the Yanks' attempt at a playoff run.
'We're obviously trying to improve our offensive output and give Joe (Girardi) a lot of flexible options as he matches up on a daily basis,' Cashman said. 'Hopefully these two deals can assist in that effort.'
With big names flying out of Boston, Cashman figured he'd take a shot at the rarest trade of them all: a Yankees-Red Sox deal.
'I threw an idea Boston's way when they started moving and shaking as much as they were,' said Cashman, who swung the first trade between the clubs since the Yankees acquired Mike Stanley in August of 1997. 'Once they declared themselves the way they did, I floated a text Ben Cherington's way and we worked really quickly off of that.'
The Yankees sent disappointing infielder Kelly Johnson to Boston in exchange for Drew.
'It's a unique set of circumstances. One of our two teams has to be in a playoff mode and the other - in my opinion - has to be rebuilding to some degree,' Cashman said. 'There's a great deal of respect between the Red Sox and Yankees, both of our sides. It's an amazing rivalry, but (we're) certainly very careful when we do business with each other.'
Drew, a nine-year veteran who has never played anywhere but shortstop, will step in as the Yankees' everyday second baseman in place of Roberts. Boston also sent $500,000 to the Yankees to pay part of Drew's remaining salary.
'We believe in Stephen's abilities, we certainly have a great deal of respect for his athleticism,' Cashman said. 'We're asking for him to accept a new challenge and we believe that his abilities will allow him to do that. We'll see how it unfolds.'
Drew signed back with Boston in late May for $10.2 million after turning down a $14.1 million qualifying offer during the offseason. He will be a free agent after the season, though his two-month stint in the Bronx could serve as an audition of sorts as the Yankees look to replace the retiring Derek Jeter at shortstop next season.
Drew, 31, was dreadful in 39 games with the Red Sox this season, posting a slash line of .176/.255/.328 with four home runs and 11 RBI. After hitting .136 with no homers and two RBI in his first 19 games, Drew is batting .215 with four homers and nine RBI in his last 20.
'He's starting to heat up a little bit now and we hope to take advantage of that,' Cashman said.
Prado, 30, had a slash line of .270/.317/.370 with five home runs and 42 RBI in 106 games this season. Arizona received minor-league catcher Peter O'Brien from the Yankees. He has a combined 33 homers and 70 RBI this season between Single-A and Double-A.
The plan is for Prado to see the majority of his time in right field ahead of Ichiro Suzuki. Prado, who has seen ample action at second base, third base and left field during his nine-year career, has two years and $22 million remaining on his contract beyond this season.
'He can provide a lot of options for our manager,' Cashman said. 'As we move forward, that is one of the attractive things about Martin Prado is that he can play a lot of different positions. I think Joe is going to have fun with that.'
Cashman said he 'felt clearly the offense has been more and more of a problem,' and although he was 'heavily engaged with every player that we felt could improve our roster,' none besides Prado and Drew made sense given the asking prices of the other teams and the GM's desire not to make a 'crazy overpay' to get something done.
'We're currently on the outside looking in, and we have to make up some ground. Obviously we're trying to do so,' Cashman said. 'Do I think our club is better right now? The answer is yes, I think we have improved over time, but talk is cheap. We have to actually go out there and prove that.'
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