Eric Hinske Heads to New York, Teams Up with Yankees

Today the New York Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Eric Freyer and Casey Erickson.

Hinske, who won the American League Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2002, is now more a utility player than anything else. He hit .279 with 24 HR and 84 RBI with Toronto in 2002.

Hinske has played first, third, and right field for the Pirates this year and was hitting .255 with one home run and 11 RBI in 54 games.

This is a good move for the Yankees, as Hinske will provide some left-handed pop off the bench (Hinske did hit 20 HRs for the Tampa Bay Rays last year) and he can fill in for Nick Swisher in right and for Alex Rodriguez at third.

The two players the Yankees gave up were in Low Class-A ball. Eric Freyer was hitting .250 for Charleston and Casey Erickson had a 2.25 ERA for the same team.

The Pirates will send cash to the Yankees as well.

On a side note to this trade, when I heard that a New York team acquired Eric Hinske, I was certain it would have been the Mets. Where were they on this? Hinske would have been a guy who would have been perfect for what the Mets need now. He’s a professional hitter who can play a couple of positions.

Instead, the Mets are rolling out minor league players who have no business being on a major league roster. Unreal.