New York Yankees: Was Optioning Thairo Estrada The Right Move?

New York Yankees, Thairo Estrada
Feb 24, 2019; Port Charlotte, FL, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Thairo Estrada (90) triples during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

With Didi Gregorius becoming activated, the New York Yankees were forced to make a roster move to make room for him. What they did was send Thairo Estrada to AAA, rather than DFA’ing or releasing Kendrys Morales

Should of kept Estrada

In my mind, the Yankees should of 100% kept Thairo Estrada and gotten rid of Kendrys Morales.

Estrada has outperformed Morales in every aspect. The only thing that Morales has and Estrada doesn’t is switch hitting.

Estrada’s average is at .280 through 50 at-bats, and he has 11 RBIs and three home runs. Morales has a .189 average through 159 at-bats with 11 RBIs, and two home runs.

Estrada also has a lot more speed and versatility compared to Morales. Estrada can play the middle infield, as well as the outfield and has a lot of speed. Morales, is not a great fielder and is extremely slow.

Kendrys Morales is a first baseman, and keeping him makes three guys who can play first. Luke Voit is obviously the starter, and DJ LeMahieu backs up every infield position. When you have those two guys, there is no need for a third first baseman, especially a guy batting under .200.

LeMahieu will now just play in a new position every day. He will give guys off-days or let them DH, or DH himself if nothing else.

Because Estrada is so versatile and has better season stats, the Yankees should of kept him over Morales. Morales is slow and aging, and they could release him or trade him to a rebuilding team like the Orioles or the Marlins.