The New York Yankees have acquired right-handed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for infielder Ben Cowles and right-handed reliever Jack Neely, the teams announced Tuesday. The move comes mere hours before Major League Baseball's Tuesday 6:00 p.m. ET trade deadline.
Leiter, 33, has pitched to a 4.21 ERA and 2.11 FIP in 39 appearances this season with 53 strikeouts and 13 unintentional walks in 36 1/3 innings. The fact that Leiter's FIP (what's this?) is significantly lower than his ERA suggests he's been unlucky to date, and the Yankees are no doubt hoping he undergoes a correction on their watch. His July numbers might be providing that hope: 7 2/3 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs allowed, 0 walks and 14 strikeouts. Leiter is still in his arbitration years and is owed the balance of a $1.5 million salary for 2024. He's not eligible for free agency until after the 2026 season.
Leiter's father, Mark, and uncle, Al, both pitched for the Yankees in their own MLB careers.
On the Cubs' side of things, Cowles, 24, is a former 10th-rounder who has an OPS of .795 across parts of four minor-league seasons. The 24-year-old Neely, a former 11th-rounder out of Ohio State, has a career ERA of 2.75 with a K/BB ratio of 4.11 in four minor-league campaigns.
The Yankees, who also earlier added outfielder/infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. via trade, are locked in a battle with the Baltimore Orioles at the top of the AL East standings. The Cubs remain in the NL wild-card mix, albeit at the edges, and have opted for a bit of a blended buy-sell approach leading up to the deadline.