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The New York Yankees have addressed an area of need in both the short and long term, adding righty-hitting outfielder Heliot Ramos from the San Francisco Giants just before the end of Monday’s MLB trade deadline.

The Yankees are sending two prospects to the Giants in the deal, pitcher Henry Lalane (the Yankees’ No. 5 prospect on MLB Pipeline) and shortstop Kaeden Kent (No. 13). Lalane, 22, is a 6-foot-7 lefty with a 2.77 ERA in three starts for High-A Hudson Valley this year. Kent, 22, is the son of Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, who won the National League MVP in 2000 with the Giants. Kaeden Kent is hitting .302 in 76 games for Hudson Valley.

Ramos, who turns 27 in September, was the Giants’ first-round pick in 2017 (19th) and won’t be a free agent until 2030, with his first year of arbitration only beginning next season.

“I’m very happy to be a New York Yankee for sure,” Ramos told reporters in Texas, including The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly.

“Everybody in Puerto Rico watches the Yankees. I mean, who doesn’t love the Yankees?”

The Puerto Rico native has a .835 OPS vs. lefties this season in 70 plate appearances, and is at .847 for his career. With Cody Bellinger (left hamstring strain) out until likely September at least, the Yankees can platoon Ramos with a lefty hitter like rookie Spencer Jones or Jasson Domínguez.

It was another platoon play for the Yankees, who traded with the Washington Nationals to acquire lefty-hitting first baseman/DH Luis García Jr. on Sunday. García crushes righties, and his .560 slugging percentage was the third-best in the game. He’ll split first base duties with Paul Goldschmidt, who still hammers lefties (.987 OPS) at age 38.

It’s unclear who could be sent down to make room for Ramos. It would likely either be Domínguez or Jones.

Ramos ended up breaking a pair of longstanding curses for the Giants: He became the first homegrown outfielder to play in an All-Star Game since Chili Davis in 1986, and he was the first left fielder to start in back-to-back Opening Days since Barry Bonds in 2006 and 2007.

What Ramos does right is what makes him valuable to the Yankees. He can hit lefties reliably, even if he’s not the all-time lefty-masher that his 2024 season suggested he could be. He has plenty of power — he was the first and only right-handed hitter to hit a home run into McCovey Cove on the fly — but he generates it with a swing that doesn’t get the ball in the air as often as other sluggers. It might set limits on his power, or it might be something that an adventurous organization wants to tinker with. Ramos is under team control through the 2029 season, so there will be time to find out.

What limits Ramos, however, is what makes him expendable to the Giants. He’s an all-time Dr. Strangeglove in the outfield, with subtle notes of both Glenallen Hill and Raul Ibañez, and he never fully got comfortable against right-handed pitching, which made him more of a platoon player. That’s a consideration for a team like the Giants as he starts to enter his arbitration years, especially when they have Victor Bericoto (soon to return from the IL) emerging with a similar profile. Ramos’ services (and owner-friendly contract) are in enough demand to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Still, it will be a huge hit for the Giants and their fans to lose the gregarious Ramos, who was as popular in the clubhouse (and press box) as he was in the bleachers. It took a long time for the Giants to develop an outfielder at all, and they’re unlikely to develop another one quite like him again.