HBT Weekend Wrap

God, wasn’t that family thing/working/cleaning/ thing a pain in the butt this weekend? Kept you from paying attention to baseball? Yeah, me too. Thankfully, then, here is everything you missed that mattered:

Jose Reyes is gonna be gone a while.
Josh Hamilton continued to distinguish himself.
As the hour gets late in the bar, everyone starts to look better and better.
Just your routine 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 triple play.
John Buck > Miami Marlins.
Your ace has time to turn it around. Really.
Robinson Cano: shortstop?
The Diamondbacks made some Dodgers fans change clothes. Because they have their priorities in order.
Danny Espinosa and Stephen Strasburg are not all that impressed with the Braves. Even after getting swept. They’re the Black Knight of the NL East. Have at you! We’re invincible!!!
Jacket 1, Jose Fernandez 0.
Joe Maddon hates big bunts and he cannot lie.
“42” is doing well at the box office.
Say what you want about Alex Rodriguez, but at least he’s using his treadmill for running and not for hanging laundry on like all of us are.
Carlos Quentin wisely drops his appeal the day before he’s supposed to face Dodgers pitching.
Conor Jackson retired.
Austin Kearns was hospitalized.
The Braves’ hot start guarantees them nothing.

Happy Jackie Robinson Day. Happy Morning Baseball Because of Patriot’s Day in Boston. Oh, and Happy Tax Day too. All kinds of things to celebrate, eh?

The Yankees announced that the club has acquired starter James Paxton from the Mariners in exchange for three prospects: pitcher Justus Sheffield, outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams, and pitcher Erik Swanson.

Paxton, 30, has been among the game’s better starters over the past few years. In 2018, he went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA and a 208/42 K/BB ratio in 160 1/3 innings. The lefty has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining after earning $4.9 million this past season.

Sheffield, 22, is the headliner in the Mariners’ return. He made his major league debut in September for the Yankees, pitching 2 2/3 innings across three appearances. Two of those appearances were scoreless; in the third, he gave up a three-run home run to J.D. Martinez, certainly not an uncommon result among pitchers. MLB Pipeline rates Sheffield as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect and No. 31 overall in baseball.

Thompson-Williams, 23, was selected by the Yankees in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. This past season, between Single-A Charleston and High-A Tampa, he hit .299/.363/.546 with 22 home runs, 74 RBI, 63 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases in 415 plate appearances. He was not among the Yankees’ top-30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline.

Swanson, 25, was selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2014 draft. He spent most of his 2018 campaign between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Overall, he posted a 2.66 ERA with a 139/29 K/BB ratio in 121 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline rated him No. 22 in the Yankees’ system.

This trade comes as no surprise as the Yankees clearly wanted to upgrade the starting rotation and the Mariners seemed motivated to trade Paxton this offseason. To the Mariners’ credit, they got a solid return for Paxton, as Sheffield likely becomes the organization’s No. 1 prospect. The only worries about this trade for the Yankees is how Paxton will fare in the more hitter-friendly confines of Yankee Stadium compared to the spacious Safeco Field, and Paxton’s durability. Paxton has made more than 20 starts in a season just twice in his career — the last two years (24 and 28). The Yankees are likely not done adding, however. Expect even more new faces before the start of spring training.

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