Yankees trade for Dustin Ackley from Mariners

Baseball America considered him the 26th best prospect in the Yankees’ system coming into 2015.

Ackley hit.243/.306/.366 with 42 homers in 584 games as a Mariner, highlighted by a solid rookie campaign in which he hit.

Seattle is getting 23-year-old outfielder Ramon Flores and 25-year-old pitcher Jose Ramirez from the Yanks. The 27-year old was the second overall pick out of North Carolina in the 2009 draft, and spent the first four-and-a-half years of his major-league career with the Mariners. Seems safe to assume the Yankees like Ackley’s power bat as a solid fit for Yankee Stadium, and I’m sure they value his versatility, but it’s hard to know exactly where Ackley will play. Weeks was designated for assignment in June after failing to make the transition from second base, and Ackley entered Thursday’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins with a. 215 batting average, six homers and 19 RBIs in 85 games. 226 the following season.

All along, it was believed the Yankees were mostly in the market for a starting pitcher, and the news today that Michael Pineda is headed to the disabled list contributed to that speculation. There’s talent there and the Yankees hope that at age 27, it can still be extracted.

Drafted as a second baseman, Ackley has spent most of his time in the outfield the last two seasons.

There was also the leaked Houston Astros E-mails last season, which included a conversation in which Zduriencik offered a deal that would send Ackley to Houston in exchange for catcher/first baseman Jason Castro.

Dustin Ackley is the newest Yankee.