The Yankees made a minor trade, finding a taker for an infielder who did not have a clear route to playing time in The Bronx.
On Sunday, the Yankees announced they sent Braden Shewmake to the Astros in exchange for minor league righty Wilmy Sanchez.
Shewmake, 28, spent all of last season and the beginning of this season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a contact-hitting middle infielder with a good glove and a bit of major league experience (31 games).
He had a shot to break camp with the major league team this season because of Anthony Volpe’s injury, but the Yankees opted to go without a true backup shortstop — Ryan McMahon has filled in at the spot behind José Caballero — and Volpe’s impending return would have made it even a longer shot that Shewmake would have been called up.
Sanchez, 22, has a lifetime 4.61 ERA in the minors with a walk issue (5.9 per nine innings) but an ability to miss bats (11.8 strikeouts per nine). He began this season well in Double-A, having allowed one run on three hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings.