MLB Player Traded From Rays to Yankees Mid-Game Between the 2 Teams

MLB infielder Jose Caballero was in a literal no-lose situation on Thursday, July 31, when the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees faced each other in a matinée.

The two American League East teams were in the middle of their game at Yankee Stadium when news broke that Caballero, 28, who was playing second base for the Rays, had been traded — to the Yankees.

“Everything happened so quickly,” Caballero told reporters after the game. “You have to pick up and move over, switch teams. And now you’ve got to give your best and hopefully bring a championship to this city — something that I’m sure the fans are expecting, and have been expecting for a long time.”

The unusual moment was the result of a few lucky accidents coinciding. Thursday was MLB’s trade deadline, meaning it was the last day teams could make in-season deals. The Rays and Yankees just happened to be playing each other in a weekday afternoon game, as the final game of a series often is, to make travel easier.

The deal came together partly thanks to a nearly three-hour rain delay in the middle of the 7-5 New York win.

“We won the game, I guess,” Caballero joked.

As is typical when a player is traded during a game, the Rays removed him from the lineup and the TV broadcast caught him hugging his Tampa teammates in the visitors dugout at Yankee Stadium. There was not a similar scene in the other dugout, however, as the Yankees sent minor leaguer Everson Pereira and a player to be named later to Tampa Bay in return.

“I saw him hugging people,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in his postgame press conference, admitting he wasn’t sure at the time that his team had acquired the utility player. “I knew we were definitely in the picture, so I figured maybe that was the case, but I wasn’t sure.”

Boone, 52, continued, “I think he brings a lot to the table. I think he’s going to be a very useful player for us. He’s a scrappy, tough player. I’m really excited to have him in the mix.”

His former manager, Kevin Cash, also spoke highly of Caballero, who leads the American League with 34 stolen bases.

“I’ve said it for many, many years now,” Cash, 47, said. “Cabby does a lot to help you win baseball games, whether it’s defensively or on the bases, coming up with the big hit here and there.”

Caballero now joins a Yankees team looking to return to the World Series for the second straight year. New York lost last year’s Fall Classic to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.