'Extremely valuable' Torres highlights trade haul

HOUSTON -- The Yankees made it clear that it wouldn't be cheap to pry Aroldis Chapman and his high-octane fastball from their grip, but when the Cubs agreed late on Sunday to part with top prospect Gleyber Torres, general manager Brian Cashman knew it was time to strike a deal.
In addition to right-hander Adam Warren, who is expected to rejoin the big league roster on Tuesday in Houston, the Chapman deal added three prospects to New York's farm system. In New York's view, the prize is the 19-year-old Torres, who is rated as the No. 26 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.
"Obviously, we like the entire package," Cashman said. "The primary piece, I think the industry recognizes, is Gleyber Torres. He's the equivalent of a first-born, is how I would determine it. He's a high-level prospect that's extremely valuable within the industry."

The right-handed-hitting Torres has spent the entire 2016 season with Class A Myrtle Beach, where he batted .275 (98-for-356) with 62 runs, 24 doubles, three triples, nine homers, 47 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 94 games. Torres was aware that his name had been mentioned in trade rumors late last week.
"Thank you @Cubs for this amazing journey," Torres said on Twitter. "I really appreciate the opportunity you gave me to do what I love. Thank you all ... [On the] other hand I'm pumped to belong to the organization with most history in baseball. NYC get ready. This just begins!"
Torres will report to Class A Tampa, and Cashman said that the Yankees plan to have him begin tackling second base or third base at some point in the future; possibly later this season, or in the Instructional League. New York recently moved shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo to second base in similar fashion.
"We have to be careful. We have Gleyber Torres coming to us, transferring from the Cubs organization to a brand new organization where there's new coaches, new teammates," Cashman said. "He's never played another position than short.
"I think because of the way the game has evolved with shifts and stuff like that, we'll start to do some practice rounds with him -- not in game action, but in pregame -- where we start introducing him to maybe some second base as we did with Mateo."
McKinney, 21, is ranked the No. 75 prospect in baseball, having hit .252 (75-for-298) with 37 runs, 12 doubles, three triples, one homer and 31 RBIs in 88 games Double-A Tennessee. The left-handed hitter was a first-round Draft pick of the Athletics in '13 (24th overall) and will report to Double-A Trenton.
"Billy McKinney is someone that the industry has recognized as a valuable prospect; someone we had focused on in the draft," Cashman said. "He didn't get to us. I think he's got all-around tools."
Crawford, 22, was the Cubs' 11th-round Draft pick in '12. He hit .255 (84-for-329) with 59 runs, 18 doubles, eight triples, three homers, 30 RBIs and 22 steals in 83 games with Myrtle Beach, and is slated to join Class A Tampa.
"There's a lottery ticket in Rashad Crawford, who's an extreme athlete," Cashman said. "If we can get some consistency with the bat -- he's been performing here of late, in the last few months we've been scouting him as well. I think he's a real nice upside, fourth piece in this deal."