The New York Yankees have acquired right-handed reliever David McKay from the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. The Rays will receive cash considerations in return, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
McKay, 27 years old, is expected to be added to New York's 40-player roster. He's notched 26 prior big-league appearances for his career, with those coming as a member of the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers organizations. In those outings, he's amassed a 6.08 ERA (79 ERA+) and a 1.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
McKay missed the entirety of last season after undergoing hip surgery. He's now healthy and hopeful to fulfill the upside gifted to him by his ability to spin the baseball, particularly his curveball.
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The Yankees and Rays have been infrequent trading partners over the years. According to Baseball-Reference's records, this marks just the fifth time the two sides have been involved in a transaction with one another. Oddly enough, it's the second time in a year. Last June, the Yankees shipped minor-league first baseman Mike Ford to the Rays for a player to be named later. Prior to that, the Rays and Yankees had each been involved as part of a three-team trade that included the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The other two moves were straight contract purchases. The Rays bought catcher Carlos Corporan's contract in 2016, and the Yankees obtained utility infielder Nick Green by buying out his contract back in 2006.
This has been a notable week for the Yankees and rare trade partners. On Sunday, the two New York teams struck a deal that saw them swap relievers. The Yankees netted Miguel Castro while the Mets received Joely Rodríguez. As CBS Sports noted then, that was the first trade involving big-league players made between the New York neighbors since 2004.
