Yankees acquire Tyler Wade from Angels in complete offseason reversal

Remember how little sense it made for the New York Yankees to cut bait with Tyler Wade this offseason? Not because Wade had become an elite player — or even really a serviceable one — but because he was coming off his most competent season, and represented some of their only viable shortstop depth.

Somehow, Wade’s Angels career didn’t even make it to the All-Star break, as LAA DFA’d him and sent him into limbo on July 3 after three months of play totaling -0.5 WAR and a .218 average/56 OPS+.

Any progress Wade had made in 2021 as a semi-spark plug (career-high 91 OPS+, .268 average) seems to have been undone in his new home, and just a week back, Yanks Go Yard called it extremely unlikely that the Bombers would find a way to reunite with Wade/even try to cross that bridge.

Well … surprise! Wade will be a Yankee again, as Brian Cashman has swung a small trade with the  Angels to inject the infielder back into their system.

Maybe now he can continue his attempts to recruit Aaron Judge to his new team, considering his new team is the damned Yankees.

Yankees trade for Tyler Wade with Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Alright, so … what’s next? Is Rougned Odor coming home, too, even though he’s currently igniting the hottest team in baseball in Baltimore? Who can say?

Wade will likely meander around Scranton for depth purposes and usurp Jackson Frazier’s old job of posting cryptic Instagrams and artsy musings from the Triple-A Pennsylvania cityscape.

Clearly, adding Wade wasn’t a priority for the Yankees, but once it became clear he didn’t have another MLB job lined up after the Angels cut him loose, they went back to someone they trusted to fulfill potential second-half reps in case of emergency.

And while there’s not a full-fledged emergency right now, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is tied for the MLB lead in errors with 11, and his only viable big-league backup is Marwin Gonzalez. Every time the team tries Gleyber Torres at the position, the pressure drags down his other elite skills … which explains why it was so bizarre seeing Wade leave last winter in the first place.

If Oswald Peraza gets promoted for the purposes of an experiment in the second half, Wade will get significant Triple-A reps. If the Yankees value veteran versatility and can find a 40-man spot, Wade himself might be the eventual MLB depth solution, as unexciting as that may sound.

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