NEW YORK (AP) LJ Mazzilli is moving from the Mets to the Yankees, just like his father.
The 27-year-old infield and outfield prospect was traded to the Yankees on Tuesday for outfielder Kendall Coleman. The Yankees already employed his twin sister, Lacey, who has been an on-air host for the team since 2014 and often is seen on the stadium video board.
Selected in the fourth round of the 2013 amateur draft, LJ Mazzilli hit .259 with four homers and 36 RBIs last year in 94 games for Double-A Binghamton and .217 with one homer and four RBIs in 16 games for Triple-A Las Vegas. He was 2 for 6 with an RBI for Las Vegas in its first four games this year as the Mets’ top affiliate.
LJ Mazzilli’s career was interrupted by a 50-game suspension assessed at the start of the 2015 season under baseball’s minor league drug program following a second positive test for a drug of abuse.
Lee Mazzilli, now 63, played for the Mets from 1976-81 – making the NL All-Star team in 1979 – and again from 1986-89. He played for the Yankees in 1982, managed their Class A Tampa farm team from 1997-98, then was their major league first coach from 2000-03 and bench coach in 2006. He has been a spring training guest instructor in recent years and often is at Yankee Stadium.
Lee Mazzilli also managed the Baltimore Orioles in 2004-05.
The 22-year-old Coleman, an 11th-round draft pick in 2013, hit .212 with three homers and 25 RBIs last year in his second season with Class A Staten Island.
The Yankees also selected the contract of outfielder Shane Robinson and from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (IL) and designated infielder-outfielder Jace Peterson for assignment.
The Mets optioned outfielder Brandon Nimmo to Las Vegas and recalled right-hander Corey Oswalt from the Pacific Coast League team.
Filling in because of injuries to outfielders, the left-handed-hitting Peterson was 3 for 9 with a walk against Baltimore last weekend. The Yankees preferred to have a right-handed hitter available at Boston, where they face left-handers Chris Sale on Tuesday and David Price on Wednesday.
Nimmo, a 2011 first-round draft pick, was 3 for 9 to start the season but was likely to get less playing time following the activation of outfielder Michael Conforto from the disabled list.
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