NY Yankees Trade Shawn Kelley for Minor Leaguer

The New York Yankees have traded Shawn Kelley to the San Diego Padres in exchange for a minor leaguer, pitching prospect John Barbato.

Relief pitcher Kelley, 30, started off last season strong but finished it on a lower note with a 3-6 record and a 4.53 ERA over 51.2 innings. Kelley had one year left before entering free agency. Kelley was traded to New York from the Seattle Mariners in 2013.

"It was a little shocking at first but I'm sure they're still going to have a good pen, even with Robertson gone and now myself gone. I was really looking forward to a third year. I hate to go. But at the same time I'm excited for this new opportunity," Kelley said according to the Wall Street Journal. "I think Dellin, Warren, and Miller will probably pitch a lot. It's tough-I feel like the teams that are built to go deep with offensive stuff, and sabermetrics, it's going to the teams where the starters go five or six, and the bullpen can shut it down from that point on. The more arms the better-that's one of the reasons I was shocked by this whole situation, because I thought we were going to try to have four, five, six quality arms that were all interchangeable."

Barbato, 22, posted a 2.87 ERA over 31.1 innings pitched for Double-A San Antonio in 2014. He went 2-2 win 27 relief appearances and allowed 26 hits, 10 earned runs and 10 walks. He recorded 33 strikeouts and averaged 9.48 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.

Barbato was particularly effectively against left-handers, holding them to a .196. He held opponents to a .226 batting average. Out of 18 save attempts, he recorded 16.

He was a 6th round pick out of high school in 2010.