The Pittsburgh Pirates today acquired catcher/first baseman Rafael Flores, catcher Edgleen Perez and outfielder Brian Sanchez from the New York Yankees for right-handed pitcher David Bednar.
All three players were rated as top-25 prospects in the Yankees organization at the time of the trade. Flores was rated by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America as their No. 8 prospect, Perez was rated by MLB Pipeline at No. 14 and Baseball America at No. 16, and Sanchez was rated by Baseball America at No. 24.
The 24-year-old Flores hit a combined .279 (104-for-373) with 23 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs, 60 RBI, 41 walks and 51 runs scored in 97 games split between Double-A Somerset (87 games) and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (10 games) this season. At the time of his promotion to Triple-A on July 19, he was leading the Eastern League in extra-base hits (39) and total bases (166), while also ranking second in the league in both hits (96) and RBI (56), third in both home runs (15) and slugging (.496), fifth in OPS (.842), tied for fifth in runs scored (48) and sixth in batting (.287).
In 2024, Flores was tabbed by Baseball America as New York’s Minor League Player of the Year after batting a combined .279 (121-for-434) with 31 doubles, 21 home runs, 68 RBI, 66 walks and 67 runs scored in 122 games split between High-A Hudson Valley (57 games) and Somerset (65 games).
He ranked second among all Yankees farmhands in home runs, extra-base hits (52) and total bases (215), third in hits and fifth in RBI, slugging (.495) and OPS (.874).
Flores was signed by New York as a non-drafted free agent on July 25, 2022, out of Rio Hondo (CA) College.
The 19-year-old Perez hit .209 (63-for-301) with eight doubles, 26 RBI, 68 walks and 41 runs scored in 83 games at Low-A Tampa this season. He was leading the Florida State League and all Yankees farmhands in walks at the time of the trade.
In 2024, Perez spent the entire season with the FCL Yankees, where he ranked second in the Florida Complex League in walks (45) and third in OBP (.444) while batting .283 in 51 games.
Perez was signed by New York as a non-drafted free agent on March 23, 2023.
The 21-year-old Sanchez ranked ninth in the Florida State League in batting (.281) and 10th in both slugging (.438) and OPS (.811) entering today.
In 2024, Sanchez was named a Florida Complex League post-season All-Star after batting .306 with 24 extra-base hits and 32 RBI in 49 games with the FCL Yankees.
Sanchez was originally signed by Milwaukee as a non-drafted free agent on February 7, 2023, before being acquired by New York in a three-player trade on November 17, 2023.