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Yankees finally admit defeat on Oswald Peraza in depressing trade deadline sale

It really happened.
Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Yanks Go Yard

New York Yankees v Toronto Blue Jays / Vaughn Ridley/GettyImages

Oswald Peraza, a former top-100 prospect and one of the most confusing non-entities in the Yankees' orbit over the past few years, has finally come to the end of the line in the Bronx.

Peraza, after hanging on to a roster spot by a thread as the Yankees imported both Amed Rosario and Austin Slater, found himself dealt to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Thursday evening, midway through the resumption of New York's three-hours-rain-delayed game against the Rays.

Given one final chance to make a statement and remain on the roster in a utility/defensive replacement role this season, Peraza's glove proved not to be good enough to justify his limited offense. Once entrusted with a starting shortstop role in the ALCS against the Houston Astros essentially on the fly, the Yankees seemingly decided very shortly thereafter that they didn't believe in his tools as much as the prospect experts seemed to.

In limited up-and-down duty, Peraza never managed to make nearly enough of an impression to stay, and he'll now cede his backup shortstop gig to (presumably) a newcomer, considering Rosario's defensive limits.

New York Yankees trade Oswald Peraza to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The return on Peraza is understandably minimal; per Joel Sherman, Wilberson De Peña heads to the Yankees, as well as international money. De Peña is an 18-year-old outfielder with the Angels' rookie ball team who's hitting .227 this season at the lowest level of the minors.

Peraza, still just 25 years old, hit .152 this season with a 26 OPS+. There's still some smoothness in his defensive game, and occasional doubles pop that sells you just enough on his innate abilities, but the Yankees have told you all you need to know about their internal opinion of Peraza all along. This should come as no surprise. In reality, it's a minor miracle he hung on the active roster as long as he did this season, given his lack of minor-league options coming out of spring training.

The interesting part is what comes next; the Yankees still, presumably, need a cheap defender who can back up Anthony Volpe with the big-league club. Is Nicky Lopez headed to the Bronx from Scranton soon?

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.