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Yankees Trade Thairo Estrada to SF Giants for Cash Considerations
April 11, 2021
The New York Yankees announced Sunday they traded infielder Thairo Estrada to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations.
Estrada, 25, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2012 and made his MLB debut in 2019. He made 61 appearances across two seasons in New York.
The Venezuela native embarked on a slow rise through the club's minor league system, peaking as its 14th-ranked prospect in 2017.
Estrada posted a solid .280/.337/.389 triple-slash line across 454 games in the minors, but he didn't have a singular tool that helped him stand out. He compiled 52 stolen bases and 26 home runs while playing mostly average defense across six levels.
In his MLB time with the Yanks, he had a lackluster .615 OPS with five steals and four homers .
While he showed signs of potential progress in spring training with an .831 OPS and three long balls in 16 games, they optioned him to the minor leagues in March and designated him for assignment last week, leading to his trade to San Francisco.
Estrada doesn't have a clear path to playing time with the Giants, either.
Brandon Belt, Tommy La Stella, Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria are the team's infield starters with reserves Wilmer Flores and Donovan Solano also drawing ample starts as part of platoons.
He'll likely start his Giants tenure at the club's alternate training site while waiting for a spot to open up via injury or until the minor league season kicks off in May.
It's a low-risk addition for San Francisco given his defensive versatility.