10:23am: Minor league righty Gage Ziehl is headed back to the White Sox, Curry adds.
10:13am: The Yankees and White Sox are in agreement on a trade sending outfielder Austin Slater from Chicago to New York, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network.
Slater, 32, is a reserve outfielder who’s played all three spots and posted good numbers against left-handed pitching — both in 2025 and throughout his nine-year career in the majors. He’s hitting .236/.299/.423 in 135 plate appearances this year, including .261/.338/.552 versus left-handers. In 1006 career plate appearances versus lefties, the righty-swinging Slater is a .270/.362/.436 hitter.
Slater is playing the season on a one-year, $1.75MM deal, though he’s already tacked on $100K worth of incentives based on games played and plate appearances and could feasibly tack on another $175K by reaching 75 games played and 200 plate appearances.
Though he’s not likely to step into an everyday role, Slater is an affordable means of complementing switch-hitting left fielder Jasson Dominguez, who’s slashing .284/.354/.456 versus right-handed pitching but just .207/.286/.299 versus left-handed opponents. Much the same way that the Yankees acquired Amed Rosario to platoon with new third baseman Ryan McMahon, Slater can share time with Dominguez moving forward.
More to come.