Shortstop Brendan Ryan Acquired By Yankees

The Seattle Mariners have traded shortstop Brendan Ryan to the New York Yankees in exchange for a player to be named later, according to multiple reports. The defensive-minded shortstop will be able to provide a boost to the Yankees defense at that position, who currently have the 5th worst shortstop fielding percentage in major league baseball with a .967 mark.

Brendan Ryan leads all SS in def, runs saved(52) over last 5 seasons. Yanks this season @ SS? -26

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) September 11, 2013

Derek Jeter's return to the lineup is looking grimmer by the day, as this move continues to show that the Yankees are struggling to find a consistent shortstop who can defend and hit. It also shows that the Yankees are willing to give up a bat in the lineup to get better defense in the field, and interesting strategy to say the least, especially for a team that has Robinson Cano, Mark Reynolds, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, ect. in their lineup on a daily basis. 

Offensively, the 31 year old is hitting .192/.254/.265 this season with 3 HR, 21 RBI, and a 0.0 WAR. Ryan will be making his Yankees debut tonight, as he is batting eighth and playing shortstop as the Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight.