The Rays have acquired first baseman Mike Ford from the Yankees for cash considerations and a player to be named later, both clubs announced. Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media reported the news shortly before the official announcement. Ford will be optioned to Triple-A Durham, relays Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). To clear 40-man roster space for Ford’s acquisition, Tampa Bay transferred righty Tyler Glasnow from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Ford has appeared in the majors in each of the past three seasons. The left-handed hitter showed plenty of offensive promise as a rookie, when he raked at a .259/.350/.559 clip with twelve home runs over his first 163 MLB plate appearances. Ford, whom the Mariners had selected in the Rule 5 draft the previous year but returned in Spring Training, looked like a potential long-term contributor in the Bronx after that strong debut. He hasn’t been able to follow up on that over the past two years, though.
More to come