Yankees Acquire Petit For Shortstop Shortage

The Yankees were supposed to rely on youngster Didi Gregorius and veteran Brendan Ryan to replace  play shortstop in the wake of Derek Jeter's retirement. But as the team gets ready to head north to start the season on Monday, Gregorius is recovering from a sprained left wrist and Ryan is likely headed to the DL with a Grade-2 calf strain.

To add some depth, the Yankees have acquired 30-year old shortstop Gregorio Petit from the Houston Astros for a player to be named and/or cash. Petit played in 37 games for the Astros last season with a .278/.300/.423 slash line at the plate. 10 of his 27 hits were for extra bases, hence the decent slugging percentage. The Venezuelan native can also play second base and third base as wekk, giving the Yankees another utility player option.

Petite played a combined 25 games for Oakland in 2008-2009, but spent the next four seasons in the minor leagues before Houston gave him another shot in the show. The Yankees are his sixth organization.