Yankees Acquire Sierra in Trade With Rangers

The New York Yankees acquired Ruben Sierra in a trade Friday with Texas, getting a much-needed left-handed bat but also a player who once called Manager Joe Torre “a liar.”

The Yankees sent minor league outfielder Marcus Thames to the Rangers.

The switch-hitting Sierra, 37, is batting .258 with three home runs and 12 runs batted in. His salary this season is $600,000, more than affordable for the team with the majors’ highest payroll.

Sierra was traded from Oakland to the Yankees for Danny Tartabull in the middle of the 1995 season. Sierra played 96 games for the Yankees in 1996 in their first season under Torre, and he complained that the manager had not been truthful with him about his playing time.

Torre said Friday that he and Sierra patched up their differences at spring training a couple of years ago.

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