The New York Yankees acquire Eric Hinske from the Pirates
The Yankees have acquired 1B/3B/OF Eric Hinske from the Pirates for C/OF Eric Fryer and righty pitcher Casey Erickson. The 31-year old lefty swinging Hinske’s biggest job will be filling in for A-Rod when he needs a day off. Hinske played in 54 games for the Pirates this season and he was 27 for 106 (.255 avg, .741 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs. Hinske has now played in 957 games in his major league career and he is 766 for 3,012 (.254 avg, .773 OPS) with 463 runs scored, 106 homers, 410 RBIs and 60 stolen bases. 23-year old righty swinging Eric Fryer has played in 59 games in A-ball for the Yankees this season and he was 56 for 224 (.250 avg, .677 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 2 homers, 24 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. 23-year old Casey Erickson pitched in 21 games (3 starts) in A-ball this season for the Yanks and he was 3-3 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Erickson allowed 51 hits in 44 innings so far this season while whiffing 37 batters. Erickson is the better prospect of these two guys but neither of them were considered Top-30 prospects by Baseball America coming into this season.