Yankees trade for D-Backs outfielder during Hal Steinbrenner press conference

You want a trade, New York Yankees fans? Well, you got one after Wednesday night’s nauseating loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

And it’s for a Diamondbacks outfielder! But no, not the one (or two) you were expecting. David Peralta is not coming to the Bronx. Neither is Ketel Marte.

This was not a transaction meant to shake up the current roster by any means. Instead, it gives them solid defense and speed on the base paths.

Tim Locastro is coming back to the Bronx, according to reports. He’ll undoubtedly be a bench player … which begs the question, yet again: what was the point of trading Mike Tauchman?

Does Locastro sound familiar? It’s because he was traded to the Yankees in November of 2018 for a minor leaguer and cash. Then the Yankees traded him to the D-Backs in January of 2019 for a minor leaguer and cash, cutting him loose when they signed DJ LeMahieu.

Odd stuff.

The Yankees traded for Diamondbacks OF Tim Locastro on Thursday.

Prior to 2021, Locastro had been having a solid run of play. In 91 games back in 2019, he slashed .250/.357/.340 with 17 stolen bases. In the shortened 2020 season, he slashed .290/.395/.464 with two home runs, seven RBI and four stolen bases across 33 games.

However, he’s hitting just .178 with a .491 OPS in 55 games this year (133 plate appearances). Then again, the Diamondbacks have a stacked outfield with Peralta, Marte and Kole Calhoun.

The Yankees currently have an open 40-man spot and Clint Frazier left Thursday night’s game after experiencing dizziness. The outfield has been a mess so far, with Frazier (hitting .186), Miguel Andújar (a third baseman) and Brett Gardner (hitting .204) logging meaningful reps on a nightly basis. It’s really not what you want, and it’s forced Aaron Judge to play a lot more center field than we had ever imagined thus far.

If Locastro can find ways to get on base here and there, he can help the Yankees become more aggressive with stealing and taking extra bags on base hits and deep fly balls.

Unfortunately, he’s a righty, so this doesn’t help balance the lineup at all, but his defense and speed at least provide the Yankees with two things they don’t really have.

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