The Major League Baseball regular season begins for the majority of franchises on Thursday. On Wednesday, we saw a three-way trade between the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays, right before the season was about to start.
The principal player in the deal is third baseman Jon Berti of Troy, Michigan, who is going from the Marlins to the Yankees. Catcher Ben Rortvedt of Madison, Wisconsin is going from the Yankees to the Rays. There are also two prospects involved in the deal who are going to the Marlins. They are outfielder John Cruz of Santiago, Dominican Republic, who the Marlins are receiving from the Yankees and outfielder Shane Sasaki of Honolulu, Hawaii, who the Marlins are receiving from the Rays.
This will be the third Major League Baseball team for Berti and Rortvedt. Berti previously played one season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018 before five seasons with the Marlins from 2019 to 2023. Rortvedt meanwhile has spent one season each with the Minnesota Twins (2021), and Yankees (2023).
Jon Berti’s Statistics in 2023
Berti batted .294 with seven home runs and 33 runs batted in during the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season. During 133 games, 388 at bats and 424 plate appearances with Miami, Berti scored 53 runs and had 114 hits, 16 doubles, three triples, 16 stolen bases, 29 walks, 157 total bases, two sacrifice bunts, three sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .344 and slugging percentage of .405. Berti’s sacrifice bunts came in one-run Marlins wins. The first on April 22 in 3-2 Miami win over the Cleveland Guardians, and the second on May 7 in a 5-4 Marins win over the Chicago Cubs in a game that went 14 innings.
Major League Leader in Stolen Bases in 2022
Berti’s 41 stolen bases led Major League Baseball in 2022. He had six more than Jorge Mateo of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, who had 35 stolen bases for the Baltimore Orioles.
Reason for the Trade
The Yankees open the season with some injury issues to their infield. DJ LeMahieu has a bone bruise in his foot and Oswald Peraza has a shoulder strain.
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