The Yankees may have taken a short-term hit when Oswald Peraza torched them early this season, but the bigger picture looks a lot better now.
Peraza, who was dealt to the Angels at last year’s MLB trade deadline, came back to the Bronx in April and made the Yankees pay right away. In 10 at-bats against his old club, he put up two homers, a double, two stolen bases and four RBIs, finishing that stretch with a 148 wRC+. At the time, it looked like Brian Cashman and company might have gotten burned.
That feeling has faded fast. Peraza’s season has fallen apart since then.
Through 277 plate appearances, he owns an 82 wRC+, and the slide has only gotten worse month by month. Over his last 14 games since June 21, he’s hit just .079/.100/.079 with two RBIs, two stolen bases and a 52.6% strikeout rate across 38 at-bats.
Meanwhile, the player the Yankees got back in the deal is starting to look like a real prize.
Wilberson De Peña, who is 19 and was only three years old the last time the Yankees won a World Series, wasn’t even ranked among the Angels’ top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline when New York acquired him. That’s likely to change soon.
He showed some pop in the minors last year with a .493 slugging percentage, but the contact wasn’t there yet. He was hitting .227 with a .306 on-base percentage at the time of the trade.
This season, though, De Peña has turned the power all the way up. In 51 games in the Complex League, he’s slashing .345/.401/.684 with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs. He’s now two homers away from matching Joey Gallo’s Florida Complex League record of 18, set in 2012.
🚨Wilberson De Peña’s 16th HRs in yesterday’s game! 105.6 MPH EV#RepBx #Yankees pic.twitter.com/OvgrYb5hMu
The raw power has shown up in the data, too. De Peña’s average exit velocity sits at 86.2 mph, but he’s already reached 111.1 mph this year, and his 16.7% barrel rate stands out, according to Prospect Savant. There’s still work to do with the bat-to-ball skills - his 78.3% zone contact rate is just below league average in the FCL - but the upside is obvious.
That’s reflected in the prospect rankings as well. Baseball America now has De Peña 12th in the Yankees’ system, and they’ve tagged him as a 50-grade prospect. Their view is that even more power could come once he adds more strength to his frame.
So while Peraza’s collapse has erased a lot of the sting from that early-season embarrassment, the Yankees may have something far more valuable in De Peña.
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