Yanks Acquire Austin Kearns

The Yankees acquired outfielder Austin Kearns on Friday for a player to be named later, according to sources. Kearns, who at one time was a top prospect with the Reds, is hitting .272 with a .354 OBP this season playing everyday in Cleveland. From ESPN.com:

"We can use him a lot of different ways because he's a guy who's used to playing every day," said Girardi, who expects to have Kearns available for Saturday night's game against the Rays. According to Girardi, Yankees GM Brian Cashman first mentioned the possibility of acquiring Kearns on Friday afternoon. Cashman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

"It'll give me a chance to rest some of our left-handed hitting guys," Girardi said. "We're in the midst right now of 37 games in 38 days, so I won't have to run the same guys out there every day. You can keep them healthy and physically strong, because we're going to need them."

Adding Kearns will necessitate the Yankees' making a roster move, and although Girardi said he was undecided who would be sent down in order to make room, the likeliest candidates are Juan Miranda or Colin Curtis, both of whom have been used in the role Girardi envisions for Kearns.

Kearns is nothing to get excited about, but like Girardi said, he does add flexibility to a line-up that has to play a lot of games over the next 5 weeks. Kearns is also a menial bench upgrade over miranda or Curtis, and his presence gives Girardi another right-handed bat off the bench to go with Marcus Thames. For the cost (practically nothing) it's a fine move.