Yankees acquire professional pinch-runner Terrance Gore

On Wednesday, the Yankees acquired an excellent base runner and stolen base threat in Terrance Gore from the Royals for cash considerations.

Well, the Yankees swung a trade on Wednesday, but it wasn’t for a starting pitcher or even a player that will make the 40-man roster — at least not yet, anyway.

Terrance Gore, who has a track record of successful Postseason appearances as a pinch-runner, first with the Royals in 2014 and 2015 — and then the Cubs during last season’s NL Wild Card Game, will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Gore, 28, is five-for-six in successful stolen base attempts in nine playoff games and is expected to be a September call-up before potentially becoming an October weapon off the bench for Aaron Boone’s bunch. Per the AP, Gore was acquired for multiple reasons:

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"”Obviously, depth and obviously a guy with a lot of speed that can play a certain role for you down the stretch,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said."

Designated for assignment by Kansas City on July 12, Gore has swiped 40 big league bags in 49 attempts, while taking an extra-base 61 percent of the time during parts of six major league seasons.

A career .224/.325/.284 in 77 plate appearances, Gore does boast a .715 OPS in 51 at-bats this season, while swiping 13 of 18 bags. He was used as a pinch-runner 16 times in ’19 — stealing five bases during those opportunities.

While some may prefer the Yanks to use a homegrown speedster such as Tyler Wade (140 stolen bases in parts of seven minor league seasons — and seven more in the majors), or a recent fan favorite like Cameron Maybin (180 stolen bases in 13 seasons equates to 27 per 162 games) come playoff-time, Statcast rates Gore as having 99-percentile speed.

Throw in his 293 career steals in the minors (90 percent success rate), and it’s clear to see the Yanks could have a secret late-inning weapon on their hands — should Gore warrant a roster spot when push comes to shove.