Absurd prospect breakout makes Yankees' Oswald Peraza trade feel much better

Who could've ever expected the biggest non-injury-related roller coaster of the first three months of the Yankees' season would involve ditching Oswald Peraza?

The Yanks pulled the plug on Peraza to very little fanfare last deadline. A bunch of people who love to complain started this season assuring us they knew a breakout was coming and the Yankees should've given him more runway, but ... those people are lying. And also the Yankees gave him plenty of runway.

But that didn't stop the chatter from burbling when Peraza got off to a hot start and visited the Bronx to torture the Yankees with newfound power in a four-game Angels set in April. Against all odds, Peraza's surge wasn't merely revenge-based. He might actually be solid now, though his OPS+ finally dipped below average this week back down to 99. Tack on Jazz Chisholm's lollipop-based growth and Anthony Volpe's surprisingly strong return, and losing Peraza has gone from "PROBLEM" to "problem" to "actually digestible" to "we win?"

Now, it's a win-win, as the teenaged lottery ticket the Yankees acquired in exchange for Peraza is doing exactly what the team hoped he would. Overlooked prospect Wilberson De Peña is utterly destroying the baseball at the lowest levels of the minors, and now is the time to hope his value grows ahead of the trade deadline before he's really challenged.

Oswald Peraza is average Angels infield depth. Wilberson De Peña could be more for the Yankees.

De Peña isn't the first player whose statistics have immediately shown he's too advanced for the Rookie League FCL. By no means are his .364 average, 1.058 OPS and 11 quick home runs in 156 at-bats an indicator that he's fully cooked and ready for primetime. He also happens to be 19 years old in a league populated by a few 16- and 17-year-olds.

But even if De Peña's scorching streak doesn't result in Yankees stardom, you may remember another slightly-too-old-for-this-league-but-the-stats-are-insane player in the system a few years back: John Cruz, who the Yankees were able to flip for 2024 World Series bench piece Jon Berti. Cruz hasn't hit much with the Marlins since relocating, and is back in the FCL this season trying to start from square one.

At the very least, as the Yankees' infield gets a bit more crowded (Volpe's been fine, Lombard Jr. is on the cusp), De Peña has given fans a peek at the vision while Peraza has regressed somewhat (though he's still been valuable!) out west.

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