The Yankees have solved their catching surplus and need for infield help in one fell swoop.
Per reports, the Bombers are acquiring utility man Jon Berti from the Marlins in a three-way deal also involving the Rays – who will get catcher Ben Rortvedt from New York.
The deal will also see New York send outfield prospect John Cruz to the Marlins, while the Rays will also send outfield prospect Shane Sasaki to Miami.
Berti, 34, will add $3.6 million to the Yankees as he plays the second season of a two-year, $5.725mm contract, but he would also be controllable through the 2025 season via arbitration as well. The utility man slashed .294/.344/.405 with seven homers, 33 RBI, and 16 stolen bases in a career-high 424 plate appearances over 133 games for the 2023 Marlins, all while playing short, third, second, and left field.
For his career, Berti has a .258/.337/.368 slash line and bring the Yankees a needed utility skill set – he has also played center and right field – and insurance on the left side of the infield, where Oswald Peraza is out until at least June with a shoulder injury and DJ LeMahieu will start the season on the IL with a bruised foot.
Berti and/or Oswaldo Cabrera, who together can play every spot on the Diamond, will likely both see time at third base while LeMahieu is out and then move back into super-sub roles, but Berti’s addition also allows the Yankees to use their final bench spot any way they choose for Opening Day.
In Rortvedt, the Rays get a backup for veteran Rene Pinto, and the Yankees close the book on the ill-fated trade with the Twins in early 2022 that brought Rortvedt, Josh Donaldson, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez.
The 27-year-old backstop hit just .118 in 32 games in pinstripes last year and is out of minor-league options, and after Jose Trevino and Austin Wells made it through spring healthy, he was left in a spot where the best the Yankees could hope for was carrying him on the Opening Day roster and then trying to DFA him and sneak him through waivers after the season began, the same as they did with Estevan Florial in 2023.
Instead, Rortvedt, who still has four years of tem control remaining, heads to a division rival.
Miami gets a pair of outfield prospects in Cruz, an 18-year-old who has hit .260 in 102 games at the Rookie level over two seasons, and Sasaki, 23, has a career .302/.386/.455 line in four minor-league seasons, and reached High-A for the first time last season.
Cruz is likely well known by new Marlins Director of Player Development Rachel Balkovec, who was the manager of the Yankees’ Class-A team in Tampa the last two seasons.