Quick thoughts after the Yankees land Jon Berti in three-team trade

Nick Burdi, meet Jon Berti. Jon Berti, Nick Burdi. Berti and Burdi. Burdi and Berti. As expected, the Yankees brought in a new position player before Opening Day. They get Berti, who for some reason I thought is a native New Yorker but is not (he’s from Michigan), in a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays. Here is the full trade, which has not yet been officially announced, though all the trustworthy reporters have it:

• Yankees get: UTIL Jon Berti (from Marlins)

• Marlins get: OF John Cruz (from Yankees), OF Shane Sasaki (from Rays)

• Rays get: C Ben Rortvedt (from Yankees)

A three-team trade in which Berti is the headliner? Someone give these GMs a wedgie. They’re trying too hard to look smart. Anyway, the trade amounts to Cruz and Rortvedt for Berti, who is owed $3.625M this season and will remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible player next year. Add in the 110% luxury tax rate, and it’s $7.6125M all-in. FanGraphs now estimates the luxury tax payroll at $310.5M.

Berti will play the entire 2024 season at age 34 and he’s coming off a .294/.344/.405 (103 wRC+) slash line in 424 plate appearances as a left-side-of-the-infielder, primarily. He has tons of experience at shortstop and third base, plus second and the outfield. The numbers say Berti is best at third, where the Yankees most need immediate help. (Given his age, Berti probably won’t be an up-the-middle guy much longer.)

In 2022, Berti hit .240/.324/.338 (90 wRC+), and the career numbers say that’s closer to who he really is than last year’s output. He doesn’t strike out (18.2% in 2023) or swing and miss (single-digit swinging strike rate every year since 2019) excessively, and he has a career 9.7% walk rate. Berti’s career high is the seven homers he hit last year. He’s not a power guy but he will at least compete at the plate.

Also, Berti went 41-for-46 (89%) stealing bases in 2022 and led MLB in steals! He then slipped to 16-for-22 (73%) stealing bases last year despite all the new rules intended to promote stolen bases. Methinks Berti’s 40-steal days are over at age 34. I’d happily sign up for 20 steals with an 80% success rate in 2024. If he can hang around an OBP-heavy 100 wRC+ with better than average defense, that’s a great outcome.

Cruz, my No. 25 prospect, felt like a lot to give up for Berti at first blush, but a) the Yankees have a pretty good track record of knowing which prospects to trade and which prospects to keep, b) there’s a chance they just sold high on Cruz given the season he had last year, and c) the Yankees have more of these touted rookie ball kids than roster spots. This is an area of depth they can trade from, and they did.

As for Rortvedt, it never seemed likely the Yankees would open the season with three catchers (it would’ve made zero sense from a roster construction standpoint) and there was a chance they would lose him for nothing on waivers in the coming days. This is better than that. I mentioned the Rays as a team that needed a backup catcher Tuesday, and here we are. Odds Rortvedt hits a big homer against the Yankees this year? 10,000%.

The Opening Day roster does not have to be submitted to the league until Thursday morning and the Yankees could make another move(s) between now and then, though it seems unlikely. A utility guy who can play third base was a priority and the Yankees got that. Berti is about as good a player for that role as the Yankees could hope to get this time of year. Good move. Here’s the likely Opening Day roster (asterisk means the player is out of options):

Brian Cashman said Cole will go on the 60-day injured list when the Yankees need a 40-man roster spot, so there’s the spot for Burdi (Berti takes Rortvedt's 40-man spot). Everyone else is on the 40-man and squared away. Jones is the obvious candidate to fill the last bench spot until DJ LeMahieu returns, whenever that happens. No sense in letting Jorbit Vivas or Everson Pereira sit on the bench. Let Jones be the 26th man who plays sparingly.

Does Berti satisfy my “the Yankees will trade for a third baseman” bold prediction? I guess it depends how much third base he plays. Berti has performed best as a part-timer, he tends to get exposed with too much playing time, but for real, this is a nice pickup. He’s not glove-only or speed-only. There’s some offensive ability here, and Berti can play all over. A needed upgrade to the bench, this is.