De Paula headed to Padres in Headley deal

One of the oft-rumored deals of the summer has finally been completed.

The Yankees have acquired third baseman Chase Headley and cash from the Padres in exchange for No. 15 prospect Rafael De Paula and third baseman Yangervis Solarte, according to multiple reports.

De Paula is the only player included that was in the Minors at the time of the deal. The 23-year-old right-hander has had an interesting trip through the Yankees farm since being signed back in November 2010 out of the Dominican Republic. He wasn't able to make his system debut until 2012 because identity issues held him back after he used different names and birthdates during the Dominican signing process.

But ever since he's entered the Yankees system, he's developed a penchant for picking up strikeouts. During his full-season debut in 2013, De Paula, who owns a 65-grade fastball according to MLB.com to go with a slider (45) and changeup (40), led all Yankees Minor Leaguers with 146 strikeouts in 113 1/3 innings between Class A Charleston and Class A Advanced Tampa.

Though the K's were high at both stops, the other numbers were very different. After going 6-2 with a 2.94 ERA and .189 average-against in 13 starts (64 1/3 innings) in the South Atlantic League, he was 1-3 with a 6.06 ERA and .283 average-against in 11 games (49 innings) in the Florida State League.

The Yankees moved him back to Tampa for the 2014 season, and the numbers certainly looked better in that second go-round. The right-hander ranked third in the FSL with 104 strikeouts and was 6-5 with a 4.15 ERA before the trade. His average-against was down to .257 while his BB/9 had also dropped from 5.5 in Tampa last season to 3.8 in 2014.

De Paula has pitched particularly well of late, going 4-0 with a 1.34 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 10 walks in his last six starts (33 2/3 innings).

He will be joined by Solarte as the two former pinstripers headed to the Padres organization.

The 27-year-old third baseman signed a Minor League deal with the Yankees in the offseason before breaking camp with the big club out of Spring Training. He shot out of the gate, batting .299 with an .834 OPS in the game's first two months. But he crashed back down to earth in June when he hit just .164 with a .495 OPS and was eventually sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for a five-game stint two weeks ago after losing his starting gig to the combination of Kelly Johnson and Zelous Wheeler. He played his first game with the Yankees following his option and subsequent promotion on Monday.

Solarte was expendable given the fact that Headley will become the Yankees' starting third baseman following Tuesday's trade.

The newest @Yankees third baseman, Chase Headley. http://t.co/muo6dxqckH #OnTheMove pic.twitter.com/htcyMEja76

- MLB (@MLB) July 22, 2014

The 30-year-old, who finished fifth in the MVP voting back in 2012 when he hit 31 homers and led the NL with 115 RBIs, is in the midst of one of his most difficult seasons at the plate as a Major Leaguer. Through 77 games with the Padres, he owns a .229/.296/.355 slash line with seven homers and 32 RBIs. He is, however, enjoying a standout defensive season as he led NL third baseman with a 19.7 UZR/150 before being shipped to New York. He posted an 8.2 UZR/150 last season.

Headley has long been linked to potential trades, given that he was expected to leave the Padres, who sit 11 1/2 games behind the Dodgers and Giants in the NL West, in the offseason when he becomes a free agent. The Yankees, who trail the Orioles by four games in the AL East, have tried to fill a hole at the hot corner since it was announced Alex Rodriguez would be suspended for the entire 2014 season as part of the Biogenesis scandal.