Josh

Stowers

Stowers was a second-round pick of the Mariners in 2018 and came over to the Yankees in the Shed Long trade. The 24-year-old hit .273/.386/.400 with seven homers and 16 steals over 105 games in A ball in 2019. He didn’t rank in the Yankees’ Top 30 prospects at MLB Pipeline, but there’s some interesting tools here.

Stowers also walked twice. The 22-year-old now has 12 steals on the season on 16 attempts. The hit and two walks help Stowers improve his slash to .306/.402/.435 with a homer and 11 doubles over 108 at-bats. The right-handed hitting outfielder was the 54th pick of last year’s draft by Seattle, and he came over to the Yankees in the three-team deal that sent Sonny Gray to Cincinnati. He has a leadoff-hitter skill set with his solid approach and plus speed, and while he won’t ever hit for huge power, he’s strong enough to project 15-homer seasons. Stowers might be nothing more than a fourth outfielder, but there might be enough here for him to be a future top-of-the-order hitter if everything maxes out.

The Yanks picked up Long from the Reds in the Sonny Gray deal but will flip him for Stowers, who was a second-round pick in last year’s Draft. The 21-year-old batted .260/.380/.410 with five homers and 20 steals over 58 games in Short-Season ball in 2018. He was ranked by MLB.com as the Mariners’ No. 10 prospect.