The New York Yankees acquired Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and cash for two minor leaguers Thursday in their second major trade this week for desperately needed left-handed bats.

The swap came ahead of the Major League Baseball trade deadline Friday at 4 p.m. Earlier in the day, the Yankees announced they had gotten All-Star slugger Joey Gallo from Texas.

Rizzo, who played for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2010, is batting .248 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs. The 31-year-old had been a fixture at Wrigley Field for a decade, and helped the Cubs break their long World Series drought with a championship in 2016.

Popular in the clubhouse and with Cubs fans, Rizzo didn’t play in a 7-4 loss at home to Cincinnati on Thursday. The three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner is making $16.5 million this year and can become a free agent after the season.

New York is fourth in the AL wild-card chase for two spots. The Yankees lost 14-0 at Tampa Bay on Thursday.

The Cubs have been in a prolonged slide that dropped them below .500, prompting speculation they would trade some of their stars.

The Yankees sent right-hander Alexander Vizcaíno and outfielder Kevin Alcántara to the Cubs.

Both Rizzo and Gallo are both left-handed hitters, which the Yankees had seeking to add to a lineup that was predominantly right-handed — not a good mix at Yankee Stadium, with its short porch in right field.

The Yankees had been using a mix at first base this year with DJ LeMahieu getting a lot of time. Luke Voit led the majors in home runs last year during the pandemic-shortened season, but the big first baseman has been injured for much of the year.

Rizzo began his career with San Diego in 2011, then went to the Cubs in 2012. He is a career .269 hitter with 243 home runs — sixth on the Cubs’ all-time list — and 793 RBIs.

The 24-year-old Vizcaíno was a highly ranked prospect in the Yankees’ system. He pitched six times this year in the low minors after starting the season on the injured list.

The 19-year-old Alcántara hit .360 in eight games this year for the Florida Complex League Yankees.

BOONE: YANKEES ‘A LOT BETTER’ WITH GALLO

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees have answered questions about how they would proceed heading into Friday’s trade deadline.

They are big-time buyers.

All-Star slugger Joey Gallo’s trade to New York from the Texas Rangers was completed Thursday, giving the heavily right-handed Yankees a much-needed powerful lefty bat.

New York acquired Gallo and left-hander Joely Rodriguez from the Rangers for minor league right-hander Glenn Otto and infielders Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver and Josh Smith. The Yankees will receive $2,722,865 from the Rangers plus another $500,000 in January that is conditioned on Rodriguez’ 2022 option buyout being paid.

With switch-hitting center fielder Aaron Hicks hurt, second baseman Rougned Odor and outfielder Brett Gardner have been the only left-handed hitters to see substantial playing time.

“Sign me up for the guy that’s on base almost 40% of the time and has power and provides the kind of potential balance for our lineup,” Boone said before New York lost 14-0 to Tampa Bay. “And on top of it, he’s a two-way player. This is a guy that really defends, can run and do all those things. It’s hard to argue that we’re not a lot better team adding Joey Gallo to us.”

Boone didn’t rule out the Yankees making additional moves.

The 27-year-old Gallo is hitting .223 with 25 homers, 55 RBIs and a major league-leading 74 walks. While he was a Gold Glove-winning right fielder for Texas, Boone envisions Gallo playing a lot in left for the Yankees, who have Aaron Judge as their regular right fielder.

“Obviously the power stands out, the plate discipline stands out, and the defensive prowess that he brings in multiple positions is something that people don’t give him as much credit for,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said.

Team officials, including owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman, have been holding meetings in nearby Tampa, Florida.

“Part of the reason I’m here is because Hal always goes for it, and so does Brian,” Cole said. “Continue to push chips in. I trust that they’re going to do what’s best for the organization, what’s best to win. I trust they’re going to try and make us better one way or another, and they did.”

Boone talked on the phone for about five minutes with Gallo, who is expected join the team for Friday night’s game at Miami.

“We’re excited to add an All-Star,” Boone said. “I let him know how excited we are.”

Gallo is owed $2.2 million from his $6.2 million salary. He is eligible for arbitration next winter and can became a free agent after the 2022 season.

Rodriguez is due $887,097 from his $2.2 million salary, part of a contract that includes a $3 million club option for 2022 with a $500,000 buyout.

Jon Daniels, Texas’ president of baseball operations, said it was emotional to trade away a homegrown star. He said there had been some discussions about a contract extension, but the former GM said it was clear the chances for a deal now were unrealistic, making a trade the best alternative for the last-place Rangers.

“Obviously if we’re in a different competitive spot, we weren’t in a rebuilding situation, which we are and have acknowledged and talked about, this could look a little different,” Daniels said.

Daniels said the Rangers included cash in the deal to offset the bulk of the remaining salaries for Gallo and Rodriguez, who is owed about $887,000 from his $2.5 million salary and has a $3 million team option next season that includes a $500,000 buyout.

Gallo, a two-time All-Star, is a career .211 hitter in seven seasons, but launches a lot of longballs. He hit 41 home runs in 2017 and 40 in 2018.

“We’re going to have nights where we punch out double digits but if our guys do what they’re capable of, we’re going to be on a base a ton,” Boone said.

The Yankees began the day 8 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East and trailing Tampa Bay, Oakland and Seattle in the wild-card race for two spots.

Rodríguez, 29, is 1-3 with one save and a 5.93 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season, holding left-handed batters to a .176 average. He is 2-5 with a 5.05 ERA in 81 relief appearances over four seasons with Philadelphia (2016-17) and Texas (2020-21), and he was 3-7 with a 1.85 ERA over 90 relief appearances in 2018-19 for the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Central League.

Duran, 22, hit .290 with 15 doubles, six triples, 12 homers and 48 RBIs this season in 67 games with High-A Hudson Valley.

Hauver, 22, made his professional debut this season with Low-A Tampa, hitting .288 with 17 doubles, nine homers and 49 RBIs in 66 games.

Otto, 25, was 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

Smith, 23, hit .324 with 12 doubles, nine homers, 24RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 39 games with Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley.

Daniels said the Rangers acquired three players they see as eventually becoming everyday bats in the big leagues, along with a young Texas-born starting pitcher who could get his first shot in the majors later this season. Daniels said all four were critical to getting the deal completed.

“Overall, it’s a really good value, four players that we’re excited about,” Daniels said. “It made sense to us, and we believe it’ll make sense to our fans in time.”

MORE THURSDAY DEALS

• The Seattle Mariners quickly found a replacement for the back end of their bullpen, acquiring right-hander Diego Castillo from the Tampa Bay Rays for reliever JT Chargois and a minor league infielder.

Castillo will likely jump into the closer role that was vacated when the Mariners traded Kendall Graveman to the Houston Astros earlier in the week. But unlike Graveman, who will be a free agent after the season, the Mariners gain a significant amount of control for the future with the acquisition of Castillo.

Castillo, 27, has 14 saves in 37 appearances and a 2.72 ERA this season. He had a 1.66 ERA in 21 appearances during the shortened 2020 season.

More important for Seattle, Castillo will be under club control through 2024.

• Cleveland traded second baseman Cesar Hernandez to the AL Central-leading White Sox for minor league pitcher Konnor Pilkington.

The White Sox, who lead the Indians by 8 1/2 games and open a series with them Friday, have been in the market for a second baseman since starter Nick Madrigal suffered a season-ending hamstring tear on June 10.

In Hernandez, Chicago is getting a Gold Glove defender who is hitting .231 in his second season with the Indians, with a career-high 18 home runs and 47 RBI in 96 games.

The White Sox also acquired reliever Ryan Tepera from the Chicago Cubs for minor league lefty Bailey Horn.

Tepera is 0-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings and has allowed just one home run over his last 36 appearances.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers got Kansas City left-hander Danny Duffy as the World Series champions boosted their rotation for a playoff push.

Duffy, 32, is on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left flexor and last pitched on July 16. He missed more than a month earlier this season because of a similar injury.

Duffy is 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA this season.

• The Toronto Blue Jays acquired closer Brad Hand from Washington.

Hand, 31, is 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA and 21 saves in 26 opportunities.

The Blue Jays sent catcher Riley Adams to Washington.

SANTIAGO IN TROUBLE AGAIN

Seattle pitcher Hector Santiago was suspended for 80 games by Major League Baseball following a positive test for external testosterone, exactly one month after he was banned for 10 games when he became the first player penalized under the sport’s crackdown on grip-enhancing substances.

While the sticky substance penalty was with pay, the suspension under MLB’s drug program will cost him about half his $700,000 salary.

A 33-year-old left-hander, Santiago is 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in 13 relief appearances this season.

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