Yankees Keep Adding, Acquire Andrew Heaney From Angels For Two Prospects

The Yankees addressed their lineup and bullpen in the leadup to the trade deadline.

To finish it, they added the starting pitching depth they needed.

The Yankees acquired lefthander Andrew Heaney from the Angels in exchange for minor league pitchers righthanders Janson Junk and Elvis Peguero in the final minutes before the trade deadline on Friday.

Heaney will be a free agent after this season. Neither Junk nor Peguero ranked among the Yankees Top 30 prospects.

ANGELS ACQUIRE

Janson Junk, RHP
Age: 25

Selected out of Seattle University in the 22nd round of the 2017 draft, Junk has been one of the bright spots of the Yankees’ farm system in 2021. He’s spent all year at Double-A Somerset, where his fastball velocity has jumped into the 93-94 mph range. His signature offspeed pitch is a snappy slider with bat-missing break beneath the zone. He worked hard remotely over the shutdown to refine the pitch’s shape to make it more effective. He also uses a deep-breaking, downer curveball to change both speeds and shapes from his slider. His changeup is a clear fourth pitch. He has a chance as a starter but otherwise fits in the middle of a bullpen.

Elvis Peguero, RHP
Age: 24

Peguero is relatively new to baseball, having only started seriously playing as a 16-year-old. He’s a massive man with a big two-seam fastball and a four-seam fastball which is a more recent addition to his arsenal. His two-seamer is very heavy and hard for hitters to lift. He pairs it with a sweeper slider that plays well because of the conviction with which he sells it and the way it looks like a fastball out of his hand. His fastball sits in the mid 90s and has touched up to 99. He’s a relief-only prospect.

YANKEES ACQUIRE

Andrew Heaney, LHP
Age: 30

Heaney has struggled to a 5.27 ERA in 18 starts this season. His peripherals (10.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9) are fine, but he struggles to put together more than a few good outings in a row and tends to regress just when it looks like he’s finally turned the corner. Heaney’s 91-92 mph sinker often gets too much of the plate and gets crushed. His curveball is an effective pitch and his changeup is decent, allowing him to pitch effectively off his secondaries. Heaney is very home run prone, especially on his sinker, which doesn’t bode well for Yankee Stadium. If he can pitch off his secondaries and stay out of the middle of the plate better than he did in Anaheim, he has a chance to be the competent No. 5 starter the Yankees need.