New York Baseball Fans Should Be Thrilled

Yesterday was a good day for New York baseball. The Yankees won, moving closer to my Mariners in the chase for the second wild card. They did it in 14 innings, and their much maligned pitching staff held the Rangers to no runs for 12 of those innings.

And the Mets helped the Yankees out, defeating said Mariners in Seattle.

But beyond the wins, New York fans should be ecstatic about what happened yesterday across the board.

Chase Headley is the guy who had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 14th for the Pinstripes. The same Chase Headley that was acquired just hours earlier from the San Diego Padres for Yangervis Solarte and pitcher Rafael De Paula.

This is a fantastic move. I repeat, this is a fantastic move.

Headley has been terrible this season, hitting just .229 with seven homers. He was terrible last year after battling through numerous injuries. But in 2012, the third baseman slugged 31 homers. He also plays premium defense. He can help, based on potential at the plate, and he'll certainly benefit from moving to the tiny Yankee Stadium from the cavernous Petco Park.

His defense will help run prevention, which, last I checked, was still important in baseball. And you know what? If he bombs? He's a free agent at the end of the year. He's a two-month rental in a season that fans will most likely want to forget anyways. If he resurrects himself, you have the jump on bringing him back next year.

After his ungodly April, Solarte has now been given some great Yankee mystique and has been heralded as a prospect the team couldn't afford to give up. Solarte is 27. They signed him on a minor league deal in February. He had been in the minors since 2006 until finally cracking the Yankees roster this year.

And remember the ungodly April? He's hit .233 since then. And was sent down to AAA at one point.

The pitcher? De Paula. He's 23 and playing in A-Ball. And he has a 4.15 ERA. He has trouble with his command and is said to project as a reliever if he gets to the major league level. He's not the answer Yankee fans want. He was just the No. 15 prospect in the organization.

Also, as I watched the Mariners and Mets last night...I realized something. Jacob deGrom is a stud. He's a piece the Mets want to keep around. He can be part of the Mets solution. Matt Harvey. Zack Wheeler. deGrom. Hopefully Noah Syndergaard. That's something Met fans should be really thrilled about.

deGrom throws all of his pitches for strikes, and he's gutsy. He struck out Robinson Cano on a 3-2 changeup. He's got a nasty one of those.

It was a good day, New York baseball fan.