The New York Yankees have acquired veteran infielder Jon Berti from the Miami Marlins in exchange for outfield prospect John Cruz, Jon Heyman reports. Craig Mish initially reported that the Yankees were trading for Berti. and MLB.com's Christina De Nicola identified it as a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees' American League East rivals. The New York Post's Joel Sherman reports that catcher Ben Rortvedt will be going from the Yankees to the Rays in the trade, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times adds that the Rays are sending outfield prospect Shane Sasaki to the Marlins.
The Yankees figure to install Berti as their starting third baseman to begin the regular season. Injuries to DJ LeMahieu (bone bruise on foot) and Oswald Peraza (shoulder strain) have the Yankees in a clear state of need at the position.
Berti, 34, had been in the mix for Miami's starting shortstop job. He's coming off a 2023 season for the Marlins in which he slashed .294/.344/.405 with seven home runs and 16 steals in 133 games. Berti led the majors in stolen bases with 41 in 2022. For his career, he owns an OPS+ of 93 across parts of six MLB seasons. Over that span, he's seen time at six different defensive positions, including more than 1,000 innings at third base.
As for Cruz, 18, he was signed out of the Dominican Republic. He spent his first two pro seasons at the rookie-ball level, and in 102 total games Cruz has batted .260/.394/.465 with 15 home runs and 19 stolen bases. Sasaki, 23, is a former third-rounder out of a Hawaii high school. He has an OPS of .841 in parts of four minor-league seasons. Sasaki reached the High-A level in 2023.
The catcher Rortvedt, who bats lefty and is 26 years of age, has 71 games played at the big-league level, and he's failed to produce in 177 career plate appearances.