Padres send Headley to injury-laden Yankees

The New York Yankees acquired third baseman Chase Headley from the San Diego Padres on Tuesday for infielder Yangervis Solarte and right-handed pitching prospect Rafael De Paula, the Yankees announced.

The switch-hitting Headley, who hit 31 home runs with 115 RBIs and won a Gold Glove in a breakout season in 2012, is batting .229 with seven homers and 32 RBIs this year.

Injury-hit New York (50-48) is tied for second with Toronto in the AL East, four games behind division-leading Baltimore.

The Padres (43-55) are 11.5 games off the pace in the NL West.

Headley, 30, batted .266 with 186 doubles, 87 homers and 401 RBIs in 908 career games over parts of eight seasons for the Padres.

Solarte, who made the Yankees out of spring training and had a good start before slumping and briefly going back to Triple-A, hit .254 with a .337 on-base percentage in 75 games.

De Paula, a 23-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, was ranked as the 15th-best prospect in the Yankees’ minor leagues.

He was 6-5 with a 4.15 ERA in 20 appearances for Class A Tampa.

Reuters