A winner either way: José Caballero traded from Rays to Yankees while teams were playing each other
NEW YORK AP Jos Caballero turned an inning-ending double play for the Tampa Bay Rays in the fifth inning then batted in the sixth By the bottom of the seventh he was on the other club In a strange maturation even for trade-deadline day around Major League Baseball the Rays shipped Caballero to the New York Yankees while the teams were still playing each other Thursday afternoon Caballero was removed from Tampa Bay s lineup during the seventh-inning stretch and the deal was informed after the Yankees nailed down a - accomplishment in a competition interrupted by rain for nearly three hours in the fifth I just saw Caballero in the clubhouse so that was a little odd New York manager Aaron Boone reported afterward I saw him indeed hugging people in the eighth After learning he d been traded Caballero exchanged hugs in the Tampa Bay dugout at Yankee Stadium with his Rays teammates and manager Kevin Cash Both clubs were current right up until the p m deadline and Tampa Bay sent the speedy Caballero to the AL East-rival Yankees for Triple-A outfielder Everson Pereira and a competitor to be named or cash Pereira played major league games for New York in The -year-old Caballero has stolen bases this season tied for the greater part in the majors He s batting with two homers and RBIs in games and has started at shortstop second base third base and all three outfield positions Caballero didn t start Thursday for the Rays but entered in the bottom of the fifth when All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda got injured Caballero came in to play second base and Brandon Lowe shifted from second base to first Caballero stayed in the encounter following a rain delay that lasted hours minutes But when Tampa Bay took the field for the bottom of the seventh he came out Lowe moved back to second base and Matt Thaiss entered at first It s definitely weird but you ve seen it on TV multiple times of people saying goodbye in the middle of the challenge in these situations Lowe mentioned It was a little weird to see it happen but you just kind of put all the pieces together and figure it out for ourselves After the contest Caballero conducted his postgame interview as a member of the Yankees in their clubhouse after clearing out his Rays locker on the other side of the stadium I was winning currently regardless Caballero declared We won the competition I guess That s what I feel right now Tampa Bay made two other trades Thursday acquiring starting pitcher Adrian Houser from the Chicago White Sox and reliever Griffin Jax from Minnesota The gang obtained catcher Nick Fortes from Miami early Tuesday after sending veteran catcher Danny Jansen to Milwaukee the previous night Zack Littell pitched five scoreless innings Wednesday night for the Rays at Yankee Stadium then promptly was traded to the Cincinnati Reds It s been a unique week Cash noted Caballero was acquired by Tampa Bay from Seattle in January As a rookie with the Mariners in June he annoyed Yankees ace Gerrit Cole so much the right-hander sidelined this season with an injury threw a mph fastball to him that landed high up on the backstop Cole s pitch was in response to Caballero stepping out repeatedly during his first two plate appearances until the pitch clock was down to the -second requirement to be in the batter s box and alert I talked to him for a second Boone noted I stated We ve had various battles but I like your meeting So I think he brings a lot to the table and I think he s going to be a very useful participant for us just a lot of different things he can do on a diamond and provide a lot of position flexibility AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this statement AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB Source
