Yankees call up Jose Pirela to replace Martin Prado

As if this season couldn't get any worse, Martin Prado underwent an emergency appendectomy last night and his season is officially over. But out of the worst things, sometimes good things happen. The Yankees placed Prado on the 60-day disabled list and have replaced him with minor league infielder Jose Pirela. The 24-year-old will finally get a chance in the majors, even if there are only two weeks left in the season.

Pirela hit .305/.351/.441 with 10 home runs and 15 stole bases in his first full season at Triple-A this year and regardless of what he will provide going forward, definitely deserved a call up. While Rob Refsnyder got all the hype, Pirela put together his own All-Star season, and given his contract status, bringing him up now makes sense. The Yankees are not only giving him a chance to perform in the majors, but by adding him to the 40, they can now keep him in the organization instead of allowing him to become a minor league free agent.

Jose Pirela might not end up providing that much value this year or over the rest of his career, but since the Yankees didn't bring up any interesting prospects in September, this is the closest we will get to an exciting young player. Sure Bryan Mitchell and John Ryan Murphy are up here, but neither had the season Pirela had and neither had a demand quite like he did. He's not really much of a prospect, but given his age and recent showing of talent, he's the best we have to look at for now. I hope he gets a fair amount of playing time because he's definitely earned it and maybe he proves to everyone that he at least deserves a chance.