It's Something... Yanks Acquire Jerry Hairston, Jr.

According to Joel Sherman, the Yanks have acquired Jerry Hairston, Jr. from the Reds. No word on who or what is going back. [Update: The return for the Reds is Chase Weems, a Single A catcher.]

Knee jerk time!

• Hairston can play every position on the field except for catcher (he presumably could play first but never does). With most players that would be hyperbole, but this year he has played one game in RF, 3 in CF and 8 or more at LF, 2B, 3B, and SS. [Update: He appears to be roughly average or better at every position.]

• He's 33 years old and is making $2M this year. No word on whether Hal Steinbrenner is going to be a dick and make the Reds pay some of his salary. [Update: He also has performance bonuses that could escalate his salary up to $2M more]
  
  
• His 8 HR this year already tie a career high set in 2001. He's made 340 PA's, his second most since 2003.

• He had a tremendous half-season in 2008, hitting .326/.384/.487 (124 OPS+), but aside from that has never really been even a league average hitter.
  
  
• [Update: Okay... there is no way this can be true, but some dude is saying the Yanks traded Austin Jackson for Hairston... Up-Update: Nevermind he's already backing off. Officially debunked]

Given that Weems was the 4th or 5th catcher in the system at best, the trade seems to work on both ends. The Reds likely weren't asking for a lot, considering they are out of the race, Hairston would have been gone at the end of the year and wasn't going to net them any draft picks. They probably didn't mind picking up a halfway decent prospect and saving a little money in the process.

Versatility is key with Brett Gardner out right now. He's like a super Cody Ransom - old, good at defense, can play a lot of positions, etc.

I'll update this post with more as it comes.