Yankees Rumors: Yankees Interested in Acquiring Jose Peraza

11:32 am: An Atlanta Braves official told David O’Brien of the Atlantic Journal Constitution that the report on the Yankees inquiring on Jose Peraza is “complete fabrication.”

4:49 am: According to George King III of the New York Post, the New York Yankees have informed the Atlanta Braves that they are interested in acquiring their second base prospect Jose Peraza.

Peraza, who will turn 21 on April 30th, was signed by the Braves out of Venezuela in 2010 with a $350,000 signing bonus. In 2014 he posted his best season in the minors with a .339/.364/.411 slash line over 499 plate appearances split between high-A and Double-A. What set’s Peraza apart from many other prospect in the game is speed, as he converted on 60 out of 75 stolen base attempts in 2014.

His impressive 2014 season earned him a spot as the #24 overall prospect on Keith’s Laws Top 100 Prospect List. MLB.com is also high on the young second basemen, ranking him as the 39th best prospect, and the first amongst all Braves prospects in the MLB.

It’s interesting to note that Peraza is a shortstop by trade, and was only converted to second base because the Braves had locked Andrelton Simmons into the shortstop hole for the long term future. Perhaps the Yankees are looking at Peraza as a long-term solution to the struggling Didi Gregorius. Also, even though the thought of Peraza and Rob Refsnyder as future middle-infielders for the Yankees is a very appeasing, the Yankees might plan on keeping Peraza at second base, giving them even more minor league depth to pull off a big trade and bolster their roster.

King proposes that the Yankees can offer a package of two prospects to acquire Peraza’s services, one of which can be top prospect Gary Sanchez. With the decision to place Austin Romine on waivers right before the start of the season, it seems as if the Yankees are content on J.R. Murphy as their future catcher when Brian McCann is ready to move to first base, essentially placing Gary Sanchez on the trading block.

Things should get interesting with the second minor leaguer in the package. Luis Severino, as he should be, is probably untouchable, and King notes, Severino and Peraza are roughly on the same level of value, so if the Yankees were to actually part ways with Severino, the return should be much higher than just Peraza.

Another interesting aspect to this rumor is that the Braves acquired already acquired middle-infield depth in Jace Peterson from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Justin Upton earlier on in the winter, so it’s certainly possible that they might be willing to deal Peraza.

This developing story is certainly something to keep your eyes on Yankees fans!