Yankees trade Luke Voit to Padres for bummer of a return

On Tuesday night, the Yankees created the same logjam that helped make the second half of 2021 so confusing all over again, importing Anthony Rizzo on a one-year deal with an option and crowding Luke Voit out of commission.

Like clockwork, New York solved their self-crafted problem by wheeling and dealing on Friday morning, taking Voit out of their first Spring Training lineup and sending him to Arizona instead.

As rumored, the San Diego Padres were apparently hot on Voit’s trail, and have snagged the slugging, yet injured, first baseman in exchange for a Low-A pitching prospect, 2020 supplemental round pick Justin Lange.

Eric Hosmer is now on the hot seat, but Voit will get a prime opportunity to prove his worth … which, again, he does every time he’s healthy.

Jon Heyman got the scoop first, firing off the tweet that launched 1,000 hot takes about the Yankees’ depth.

Yankees trade Luke Voit to San Diego Padres for Low-A pitcher Justin Lange

So … backup first baseman DJ LeMahieu, eh? Chris Gittens is now gone, and the Yankees are taking a significant chance thinning out their first base options behind the potentially-unvaccinated Anthony Rizzo.

Still, though … you just can’t carry Voit after the awkwardness of his displacement earlier this week.

Lange’s 2021 season went nine starts after the lost 2020. Unfortunately, he only piled up 22 innings, whiffing 29 with an elevated 1.50 WHIP and 6.95 ERA. The potential remains, though, in someone who MLB Pipeline just named the No. 8 Pads prospect.

Allow this to be your final reminder that, when available, Voit has done nothing but rake.

The burly slugger deserves a better chance than the Yankees could’ve given him this season, and we wish him well as he heads west to a team that clearly goes all-in every chance there’s a meaningful upgrade to be made.

Voit will surely enjoy the increase in compete level from the Padres front office.

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