Two years of control for James Paxton did not come cheap.
The Yankees acquired the left-hander from the Mariners on Monday, helping fill out a pitching staff and thin out their minor league reserves. Going to Seattle are left-hander Justus Sheffield, their No. 1 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline), righty Erik Swanson, their 22nd best prospect, and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams, who played last season with High-A Tampa.
Sheffield, 22, has been a prize of the Yankees’ farm system since coming over in 2016, with Clint Frazier, in the Andrew Miller trade. Sheffield, who throws a mid-90s fastball and hard slider, dominated Triple-A competition this year, pitching to a 2.56 ERA and striking out 84 in 88 innings before a late-season promotion. In the big leagues, the Yankees experimented with him out of the bullpen, where he did not fare well.
Swanson, 25, has risen up the Yankees’ organizational ladder since being dealt from Houston in 2016 in the Carlos Beltran trade. The right-hander just had his best season, being untouchable (0.42 ERA) with Double-A Trenton before a solid Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre debut, a 3.86 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 72 1/3 innings. Swanson would have been eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 draft, where the Yankees may have lost him for no return. If the Mariners envision plugging Sheffield into their rotation immediately, Swanson likely will be in the wings at Triple-A.
Thompson-Williams is furthest away. The lefty-hitting center fielder showed great power potential since being a fifth-round draft pick in 2016 out of South Carolina. In 100 games, split between Low- and High-A last season, the 23-year-old slugged 22 home runs and stole 20 bases in 368 at-bats. He also showed a penchant for striking out, which he did 102 times. As the Yankees overflow with outfielders and have Clint Frazier waiting his turn and Estevan Florial rising, Thompson-Williams was expendable.
Source: Read Full Article