This past weekend, the Yankees made a deal out of nowhere to acquire slugger Edwin Encarnacion, but why exactly was this acquisition so great?
On Saturday night The Yankees acquired American League home run leader Edwin Encarnacion. This trade came out of nowhere. There were a lot of mixed reactions. Some fans thought that this put us out of the running for a starting pitcher, but that is not the case. The Yankees only gave up our 27th ranked prospect Juan Then. We are only taking on 3.5 million of his contract. This also leaves us about 8.5 million left in space before going over the tax. Therefore it still has us in a perfect position to acquire another starter. But here are three reasons why the Encarnacion trade is great for the Yankees
RISP hitter
The offense’s biggest problem last year was it struggled mightily with hitting with RISP. We all have seen how much better D.J LeMahieu has made this team because of how well he hits with RISP. This year Edwin has been money with RISP. So far this season, Edwin is slashing .320/.471/.640 with 5 homers and 27 RBIs. Edwin has also been clutch with his two-out RISP hits this year, slashing .357/.500/.893 with five homers and 20 RBIs. RISP fails were very common with the Yankees last year and getting someone like Edwin to add to this already deadly lineup will only make us better.
Hits the contenders well
The main contenders this year are the Redsox, Astros, Twins, and Rays. Edwin has good career stats versus all of these teams.
Red Sox – 129 games: 31 homers 101 RBI’s .271/.362/.529
Astros – 86 games: 21 homers 55 RBI’s .258/.349/.535
Twins – 90 games: 26 homers 90 RBI’s .281/.382/.559
Rays – 131 games: 27 homers 63 RBI’s .207/.303/.419
When October comes we will have to face at least two of these teams on the way to the World Series, so having a guy like Edwin who has succeeded against these teams will only help us more.
Owns Yankee Stadium
For as long as Edwin has been the in the league he has always done one thing, rake at Yankee Stadium. In 69 games in his career, at the current Yankee Stadium, Edwin has hit 18 home runs and driven in 43 runs. Edwin’s power and Yankee stadium match perfectly with each other and will only make the Yankees better as they continue their quest for number 28.