Solarte Thankful Yankees Gave Him An Opportunity

When the Yankees first traded Yangervis Solarte to the Padres yesterday, many fans were surprised the team would give up his kind of talent for a rental.

The 25-year-old rookie, who spent eight seasons in the minors before making the Yanks out of spring training, hit .300 for them over the first two months of 2014 and .254 overall, making the fact he was dealt for someone batting just .229 tough to understand.

Still, since the exchange did happen the world, including Solarte, has to come to terms with it, something the youngster seemed to do yesterday, telling ESPN Deportes' Marly Rivera how thankful he was to be a Bomber.

"I just want to thank the New York Yankees for the opportunity they gave me; they made my dream to play in the majors come true," he said. "I am very thankful for the support the Yankee fans gave me, which was completely unexpected; they gave me inspiration to keep fighting and working hard." 

Way back in April, Solarte, then just a utility infielder, took the starting third base job from Kelly Johnson, arguably the high point of his success, as the majority of his playing time from then on included only slumps and frustration.