The Yankees have traded Luke Voit to the San Diego Padres, the team announced Friday afternoon.
Voit took the Bronx by storm upon his arrival in 2018, hitting .333 with a 1.095 OPS in 39 games in their final regular season stretch.
The slugger continued his sudden surge in 2019, slashing .280/.393/.509 in his first 78 games of that season before abdominal tears derailed it, and he was left off that year's postseason roster.
He led MLB in home runs in the shortened 2020 season and finished in ninth place in the AL MVP vote, but injuries caught up with him again last season, as he played in just 68 games due to four IL stints. That, along with an inconsistent bat, forced the Yankees to trade for Anthony Rizzo, who was also a massive improvement defensively.
Voit was almost traded at last season's deadline, as well. And then from Aug. 23 through the end of the season, Voit started in just 13 out of a possible 38 games. In the Yankees' final 12 games, Voit had just four plate appearances.
SNY's Andy Martino, who reported the news earlier, caught up with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole following the trade.
"He's a pretty good friend. We're gonna miss him around here."
The Yankees re-signed Rizzo earlier this week, and with Giancarlo Stanton DHing more often than not, Voit saw the writing on the wall.
The Padres have Eric Hosmer manning first base, but with the DH entering the National League, this could be a chance for Voit to still provide power every day in a postseason-ready lineup, as well as play first base when San Diego faces a lefty (the left-handed hitting Hosmer hits just .251 with a .662 OPS against southpaws, while Voit hits .264 with an .859 OPS against them).
The Yankees received RHP Justin Lange, the Padres' first-round pick of the 2020 MLB Draft. He went 0-3 with a 6.95 ERA in nine Low-A ball starts last season.