The New York Yankees further beefed up their lineup and their infield, acquiring infielder Amed Rosario from the Washington Nationals on Saturday for reliever Clayton Beeter and prospect Browm Martinez, a center fielder.

Rosario, 29, may serve as the right-handed complement at third base to Ryan McMahon, the newly acquired veteran who struggles against lefties.

The Yankees aren’t done. According to a league source, the Yankees will continue to hunt pitching before Thursday’s deadline, with a priority on finding some relief help, though they will also peer into the starting pitching market. The Yankees’ first two trades have not cost them significant prospect capital, leaving them well-positioned to make a major move in the pitching market should they choose.

But already, the Yankees have significantly upgraded their infield offense in recent days, particularly at third base, where they had been playing Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas — neither of whom have proved they can produce offensively in the majors.

This season, Rosario has hit .299 with three homers, 10 RBIs and a .816 OPS in 93 plate appearances against lefty pitchers. But his offensive prowess has not translated to his defense. Advanced metrics have not been kind to Rosario’s glove at third base this season (minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-5 Outs Above Average). He’s owed the remainder of his $2 million salary for this season and he’ll be a free agent in the winter.

The YES Network’s Jack Curry was the first to report the news.

The Yankees once viewed Beeter as a starting pitcher before making him a reliever this spring training. The Nationals must now figure out if Beeter can regain his command, which has been his biggest issue throughout his career. In 21 appearances in the minors this season, Beeter is walking 7.23 batters per nine innings pitched. What makes him tantalizing, though, is his strikeout numbers; his 35.5 percent strikeout rate ranks in the 93rd percentile, according to Prospect Savant. Beeter was originally acquired by the Yankees in 2022 when they traded Joey Gallo to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Martinez is a lottery-ticket prospect who will turn 19 this November.  After signing with the Yankees for $130,000 last year, this was Martinez’s second season in the Dominican Summer League and he has dominated. In 18 games, Martinez has posted a 186 wRC+ and a 1.139 OPS. He’s still years away from making the big leagues, and the Yankees are in win-now mode, though they have struggled of late.

The Yankees had a tumultuous Saturday, learning that star right fielder Aaron Judge has a right flexor strain and would need to go on the 10-day injured list. Rosario will likely take his roster spot. The Yankees also lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-4, to fall to 6 1/2 games back of the surging first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East and to just one game ahead in the wild-card standings.

Trade gradeYankees: B+
Nationals: A-

Rosario, once a highly-regarded prospect for the New York Mets, is having a career resurgence in 2025 after a rough last two seasons. He has an .816 OPS against left-handed pitching and it stands to reason he’ll mostly be relegated to facing southpaws. Ryan McMahon, a third baseman whom the Yankees traded for last week, struggles mightily against lefty pitching, so Rosario can serve to mitigate that weakness.

Rosario is a bad defensive player, though, and hasn’t really been productive overall since a breakout 2022 season. He’s since cut down on his strikeouts this year and his hard hit rates have taken a big leap.

The Yankees are in free fall, and are simply trying to make the postseason at this point. It’s going to take a patchwork effort to make that happen, and that’s exactly what Rosario represents. He’s not a big piece of the puzzle, but he can help offensively.

The Nationals will get pitcher Clayton Beeter, the Yankees’ No. 20 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. Beeter made his big league debut for New York last year, though he’s struggled since then. But he’s got a live fastball out of the bullpen, and might get a chance to pitch on the Nationals big league roster this season. Particularly with how bad Washington’s bullpen has been all year, they’ll want to see what they got.

The Nationals took a $2 million flier in signing Rosario this season, and they were able to leverage his unexpectedly strong performance into a good prospect, as well as another 18-year-old outfield prospect still playing in the Dominican Summer League. Despite their poor season, the Nationals don’t have a ton of trade chips at the deadline. So to get anything is a win, and this deal makes sense for both sides.

The question for the Yankees is whether or not they’re still out to reel in a big fish before Thursday evening, or if they’ll stitch together upgrades through smaller acquisitions. — Sam Blum

(Top photo of Amed Rosario: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)