The New York Yankees have acquired OF Tim Locastro from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for RHP Keegan Curtis.
The struggling Yankees need a shake-up and while this is not exactly that, it’s a start. They address a need here as the league’s slowest team gets the league’s fastest player. The Yankees desperately need center field help, as Brett Gardner is not working out, and Tyler Wade and Aaron Judge are not permanent options. Locastro can play all three outfield positions and he has an incredible 30.7 ft/s sprint speed this year. The problem is that Locastro cannot hit. He has a career 78 OPS+, with a .339 OBP and 6.3 BB%. His OBP is only so high thanks to an incredible quirk: he constantly gets hit by pitches. In 200 career games, Locastro has been hit 36 times. That is once about every 5.5 games! He will be a bench player in New York. The upstate New York native went to Ithaca College, grew up a Yankee fan, and was on their roster for a short period of time in the offseason following 2018.
Locastro, 28, has hit one home run with five stolen bases, a .178 average, and a .491 OPS in 133 Plate Appearances this season. In his MLB career for the Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, Locastro has hit four home runs with 31 stolen bases, a .234 average, and a .663 OPS in 480 Plate Appearances.
Arizona has quickly become baseball’s worst team this season. Locastro is definitely not an essential player to their organization, and they get a decent return. Curtis was a 22nd round pick in 2018 by the Yankees out of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Alumnus include Chuck Finley, Ben Sheets, and that is about it. Any Yankee fans remember Jim Miller in 2013-14? No? Anyways, Curtis has become a key member of the bullpen at AA Somerset. In his short minor league career, he has pitched well. Age isn’t on his side, but if he progresses as he has this year, an MLB debut in the next year and a half is not out of the question.
Curtis, 25, has a 3.94 ERA with 27 strikeouts, seven walks, and a 1.313 WHIP in 16 innings at AA this season. In his MiLB career, he has a 3.29 ERA with 83 strikeouts, 26 walks, and a 1.142 WHIP in 65.2 innings pitched.
CarterHud 