http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/sports/baseball/yankees-acquire-marlins-nathan-eovaldi-for-martin-prado-in-5-player-deal.html 2014-12-19 22:00:36 Yankees Acquire Marlins’ Nathan Eovaldi for Martin Prado in 5-Player Deal The Yankees on Friday sent infielder Martin Prado and pitcher David Phelps to Miami for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Jones and the pitching prospect Domingo German. === Their roster is characterized by aging players and their rotation is laden with pitchers returning from injuries, so the In a five-player trade, the Yankees sent the versatile infielder Martin Prado and the young pitcher David Phelps to the With Prado gone, the deal could pave the way for Rob Refsnyder or Jose Pirela to become the starting second baseman. The key to the deal was Eovaldi, who joins a rotation in need of stability. C. C. Sabathia is recovering from knee surgery, Masahiro Tanaka missed two months with a torn elbow ligament, Ivan Nova is not expected to come back until midseason after Tommy John surgery, and Brandon McCarthy left for the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency. Even Michael Pineda, whose promise has emerged, remains somewhat of an unknown. One young pitcher, Shane Greene, was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks Last season, Eovaldi was 6-14 with a 4.37 earned run average for the Marlins and gave up the most hits, 223, in the National League. His career E.R.A. is 4.07, all in the National League, which is not impressive. But last season he threw 199 2/3 innings in 33 starts, which is more innings than any Yankee threw in 2014 (Hiroki Kuroda had 199) and more than Sabathia, Pineda and Nova combined. Eovaldi was drafted by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2008 amateur draft and made his debut three years later at age 21. He was a key figure in the July 2012 trade that sent Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate to the Dodgers for Eovaldi and Scott McGough. Jones, 33, has a career .314 on-base percentage and a .764 on-base plus slugging average. He hit 27 home runs and 28 doubles for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012 and had 15 homers and 33 doubles last season for the Marlins. He has played mostly first base and some right field. German, who is 22, has a career 2.33 E.R.A. in five minor league seasons, none higher than Class A. Prado, 31, hit .316 with seven home runs in 37 games for the Yankees after being acquired from the Diamondbacks in a July 31 trade for the minor league slugger Peter O’Brien. He is due to make $11 million in each of the next two seasons. He can play second base, right field and third base. But after the Yankees re-signed Chase Headley to a four-year, $52 million deal to play third, Prado became expendable because the Yankees would love to have either Refsnyder or Pirela seize the second base job. In a separate deal, the Yankees also acquired the right-handed pitcher Gonzalez Germen from the Mets in exchange for cash considerations. Germen, 27, did not record a decision in 25 relief appearances with the Mets in 2014, posting a 4.75 E.R.A.