NEW YORK — The Yankees traded former top prospect Estevan Florial to the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday for Cody Morris.
Morris, 27, made his major league debut in September 2022 and has a 6.75 ERA in six appearances for the Guardians this year, striking out nine and walking six in eight innings. His fastball averaged 95.2 mph. He threw a cutter, a curveball, and a changeup.
Morris was 2-1 with a 3.23 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 27 walks in 39 innings in four starts and 17 relief with Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron this year.
New York appears to have a surplus of players after acquiring Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from San Diego, as well as Alex Verdugo from Boston.
Florial, a 26-year-old outfielder, signed with the Yankees in 2015 and was considered a top prospect by MLB.com in 2019 before falling to sixth in 2020, 10th in 2021, and 30th in 2022.
He made his major league debut in 2020 and played just 48 major league games in four seasons with a .209 batting average, with one home run, 11 RBIs and six stolen bases.
Florial hit .230, with eight RBIs and three stolen bases in 19 games this year with the Yankees and a .284 average, with 28 home runs, 79 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 101 games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Triple-L.