The Yankees on Wednesday announced that they acquired outfielder Terrance Gore from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations. Gore, 28, has logged just 77 plate appearances across parts of six big-league seasons. Over that same span, however, he's stolen 40 bases in 49 attempts and taken the extra base 61 percent of the time as a baserunner, which is an elite rate.
Gore is one of the fastest players in MLB, and he's become something of a postseason pinch-running specialist. With the Royals in 2014 and 2015 and the Cubs in last year's NL Wild Card Game, Gore has stolen five bases in the playoffs while being caught only once. In every one of his nine playoff games, he's appeared as a pinch-runner.
Here he is in action for the Cubs in that 2018 NL Wild Card Game against the Rockies:
Elite speed and base-running instincts, as mentioned.
The Yankees are of course pretty set in the outfield, but this move is very likely about adding some targeted speed to their playoff roster. Gore has proved time and again that he can be a weapon in such circumstances. Gore won't start off on the 40-man, which means he's probably ticketed for Triple-A. The Yankees will likely keep him there until they want that speed on the roster -- probably in October.
Presumptuous on the part of the Yankees? Not at all. Right now, they're on pace for 104 wins, and the SportsLine Projection Model (@SportsLine on Twitter) gives them a 94.2 percent chance of making the postseason.