Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Bring Back Tyler Wade in Trade With Angels

Wade was hitting .218/.272/.272 over 67 games with the Angels this year, his first season in professional baseball outside of the Yankees organization.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — Eight months after the Yankees traded Tyler Wade to the Angels, moving on from the utility man after nearly a decade within the organization, Los Angeles is sending the speedster back to New York.

The Yankees acquired Wade in a trade on Thursday morning, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the Yankees are sending a player to be named later back to the Angels in the deal and that the 27-year-old will report Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Wade was drafted by the Yankees back in 2013. He had spent his entire professional career in the Yankees organization—including five MLB seasons after his debut in 2017—before he was designated for assignment and dealt to Los Angeles last November.

At first, it seemed like Wade was excelling in his new home. Over the first month of the season, with more consistent playing time on the Angels, Wade was hitting .304 (14-for-46). His numbers fell off a cliff from there, though. The left-handed hitter slashed .178/.239/.228 over his next 48 games. He was designated for assignment by the Angels on July 3. 

Regardless of that offensive production, the Yankees know exactly what they're getting with Wade. The veteran can play nearly every position on the diamond, he's always threat to steal a base and with him starting out in Triple-A, he'll serve as an insurance policy in case New York faces some adversity at the big-league level going forward.

The infield puzzle has been a story for New York since spring training, with five players occupying four spots. Manager Aaron Boone has been able to move everyone around consistently, keeping Gleyber Torres at second while Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who is second in the American League with 11 errors this season) has been New York's full-time shortstop.

If anyone gets hurt or the Yankees decide they want to bring up a spark, Wade will be waiting. For now, the bench in the Bronx will continue to consist of Marwin Gonzalez (a slower, switch-hitting version of Wade with more thump offensively) and Matt Carpenter, who has been practically unstoppable in limited playing time with the Yankees over the last few months.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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