Rockies Trade Reliever Jake Bird to Yankees for Hefty Return

The Colorado Rockies have plenty of pieces to sell at the MLB trade deadline, and they've sent reliever Jake Bird to the New York Yankees.

May 10, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jake Bird (59) pitches in the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

According to Jack Curry of YES Network, the Colorado Rockies have traded right-handed relief pitcher Jake Bird to the New York Yankees.

With plenty of intriguing players on their roster to move to interested contenders ahead of the MLB trade deadline, Bird represented one of the Rockies' most valuable trade chips.

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Bird, a 29-year-old native of California, owns a 4.73 ERA during the 2025 campaign with Colorado. Over 188 career appearances, he's posted an 11-10 record to go with a 4.57 ERA with one career save.

In return for sending Bird to the Bronx, the Rockies are receiving Yankee prospects second baseman Roc Riggio and left-handed pitcher Ben Shields, who ranked 10th and 28th in New York's pipeline.

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Riggio is a 23-year-old infielder who was selected out of Oklahoma State in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB draft.

This season, with Double-A Somerset, he's posted a .261/.335/.542 slash line for an impressive OPS of .878. He's hit 11 home runs and stolen seven bases along the way.

Shields is a left-handed pitcher who is 26 years of age and has also done well with Double-A Somerset in the Yankees organization this season.

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In five starts with the Patriots, he's 1-2 with a 3.42 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 23.2 innings of work.

This is not the first deal done between these two franchises this trade deadline season, as Colorado previously sent longtime infielder Ryan McMahon to New York for pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz.

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