The Yankees still lack a starting infielder, and with the team getting closer to Opening Day, they’re in desperate need of someone who can step up and play third base. As things stand right now, the Yankees have a four-way battle for the final infield spot with Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Jorbit Vivas hoping to grab a starting gig.
A premium free agent is no longer out there for the Yankees to sign, trade candidates have been exhausted, and now Brian Cashman stares down the barrel of a similar situation to the 2023 team. They rolled into the year without a left fielder and paid the price, generating -1.5 fWAR from that position and missing the postseason.
It wouldn’t be a sexy addition, but part-time pop star Jose Iglesias could help the Yankees avoid that disaster scenario, serving as a savvy veteran addition who can provide a strong glove and move around the infield. His strong bat against left-handed pitching, defensive versatility, and feel for contact could make him a valuable part of this roster, giving the Yankees a player capable of elevating their floor as they head into 2025.
Why Jose Iglesias Could Provide Some Stability To the Yankees’ Infield
The Yankees wouldn’t be making a sexy addition at third base with Jose Iglesias, but nonetheless, he raises the floor of the position and prevents the team from having a black hole there. What has killed the Yankees in recent years is their tendency to roll into a season with an incomplete roster and fail to fully address it at the deadline, resulting in consecutive seasons having a position with a -1.0 fWAR or worse.
Jose Iglesias wouldn’t ensure that the Yankees get great production at third base, but he has provided teams with at least 1.0 fWAR in every season he’s played since becoming a full-time starter in 2013. If the goal is avoiding a vomit-inducing outcome at the hot corner, getting a player who is known for consistently keeping teams from bottoming out at a position can keep the Yankees right in the middle of a pennant race when they inevitably deal with injuries.
This past season was an obvious outlier for Iglesias, who posted a 137 wRC+ and 2.5 fWAR in 85 games with the Mets as he became a fan-favorite sparkplug off of their bench. His timely hits coupled with excellent defense made him a valuable weapon for former Yankees’ coach Carlos Mendoza, who played him at second, third, and shortstop. His career 90 wRC+ is more in line with what I would expect from him in 2025, but he could be even more valuable in a platoon.
Oswaldo Cabrera isn’t someone I’m particularly endeared by as a starter; his bat doesn’t work against left-handed pitching and his role is better suited as a reserve infielder, but they may not have a choice here. Cabrera did have a strong season against right-handed pitchers last year, posting a .269/.321/.411 slashline with a 107 wRC+, and while he was dreadful in those matchups during the 2023 season, there were some changes in his approach that helped a ton.
The first was an improved line drive rate, as Cabrera did a better job keeping his swing path in check, resulting in more damage and a higher average. If those changes stick and he has a ~105 wRC+ in those matchups again, his strong defense and sneaky speed could make him valuable against RHP. The Yankees haven’t really rolled out a proper platoon outside of the catcher position, but Cabrera makes for a pretty good strong-side platoon option at the bottom of the lineup.
This is where Jose Iglesias would fit the Yankees’ roster very well; he could step in against LHP and provide a pretty solid bat, as he owns a career 110 wRC+ against LHP with a .345 OBP. Slotting him into the lineup against southpaws would give the team a more balanced split in their ability to do some damage against both righties and lefties, which cost them at times in the postseason.
Opposing managers knew they could counter the Yankees’ dynamic offense with a lefty, which is what the Dodgers did in Game 2 of the World Series when they needed to squash a last-second rally. Jose Trevino was all the team had to throw at Alex Vesia, who threw a hittable pitch that just beat Trevino enough to keep a well-struck ball from leaving the yard. Is Iglesias coming through there? I don’t know, but I like the Yankees’ odds better if he was there versus Trevino, who isn’t even on the roster anymore.
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DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Alex Jackson, and Everson Pereira would be Aaron Boone’s best bets off the bench against a left-handed pitcher. If the Yankees were back in the World Series and faced a tough LHP, these are the only right-handed batters they would have available to them.
Trent Grisham might be their best bet against LHP at this point in time, but as their fourth outfielder, he would be burned in a pinch-hitting spot where he also doesn’t excel enough offensively to be trusted. The team couldn’t try a late-game defensive substitution to get Jasson Dominguez off the field in a close situation if Grisham was just burned as a pinch-hitter, and it shows just how unprepared the Yankees are as a bench right now.
Jose Iglesias would immediately become their best hitter against LHP off the bench and would start on days when a lefty is on the mound, providing the team with some much-needed insurance and ensuring the team will get positive production from third base. The Yankees project to have a 2.6 fWAR at third base right now which is the 12th-worst mark in the sport, not a black hole necessarily, but also not good at all.
Slotted into the role that DJ LeMahieu currently occupies as Oswaldo Cabrera’s projected platoon partner, the Yankees would likely get a better WAR projection even if it’s just a slight improvement.
The defensive aspect of this should give the Yankees some serious cushion room as well; Oswaldo Cabrera owns a career 9 DRS and 4 OAA at third base in 706.2 innings there, and Jose Iglesias has 5 DRS and 2 OAA in 439 innings at third base, performing much better at the hot corner than he has at shortstop. The Yankees would have an excellent infield defense and in the scenario where these two are not productive enough, they can move back into bench roles at the deadline.
If these two can provide the Yankees with a combined 100 wRC+ with excellent defense, they would have a great thing going at the hot corner and can reinforce their offense at the deadline after evaluating their newcomers and rookies. It wouldn’t leave the Yankees in a situation where they’re an injury away from DJ LeMahieu being a big part of their plans either.
Can this offense stomach having that kind of production? Who knows, but if the people in front of this platoon do their job, perhaps it’ll be enough to win baseball games. The Yankees aren’t in the business of having options anymore. They have to take what’s in front of them for their infield, even if it doesn’t necessarily satisfy all of us. It doesn’t require a three-year commitment north of $10 million annually, it doesn’t bring a brutally bad defender to the team, and it doesn’t cost the team any of their prospects.
This could be a good short-term fit that keeps the team from drowning at third base as they did at 1B last year and LF the year prior.