The New York Yankees have done a lot this offseason after losing out on Juan Soto. They signed arguably the best starting pitcher on the market in Max Fried. They traded for arguably the best closer in baseball in Devin Williams. They acquired Cody Bellinger to solidify the outfield. They signed Paul Goldschmidt to be their first baseman and brought back Jonathan Loaisiga for the bullpen. However, there’s still a little more work to be done.
The elephant in the room is Marcus Stroman. It’s obvious and it’s been widely reported that the Yankees are doing whatever they can to get out from under Stroman’s $18.5 million for next season. It’s been reported that they’d even be willing to eat some of that money in order to have some financial flexibility to make one or two more moves.
The Yanks would like to add another left handed reliever and have expressed interest in reuniting with Tim Hill who was great for them last year. However, the last major hole for the team lies in the infield. Currently, the Yankees have an infield that is made off Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Volpe, and TBD.
That TBD is the final big move for the Yanks. Chisholm’s positional flexibility gives them a couple of options. They could keep Chisholm at third while looking to import a second baseman. They could move Chisholm back to his natural position of second base while importing a third baseman. Or, they could do either of those with Chisholm and stick to internal options like DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera.
I’m not going to lie, I was nauseous while typing out LeMahieu’s name envisioning him as a potential starter for next season. While the Yankees have been considered out on some of the big ticket options left on the free agent market, a drawn out free agency and limited market could bring them to a quality third base option on a short-term deal.
Could the Yankees sign Alex Bregman?
Early in the offseason, there appeared to be some buzz with the Yankees and All Star third baseman Alex Bregman. However, that’s largely been debunked and YES Network’s Jack Curry said that there’s no traction between those two sides and the Yanks don’t currently view Bregman as a fit.
The key there is that they currently don’t view Bregman as a fit. Bregman and agent Scott Boras have been looking for a team to give them a long-term commitment, however, nothing has materialized at this point. It was reported earlier this week that the Cubs have had casual talks with Bregman about a short-term deal and if he’s open to that, the Yankees should definitely jump in on the talks.
I agree with the front office in not signing Alex Bregman to a long-term deal. However, if he’s open to a shorter commitment, I would absolutely begin dialogue. Bregman is sensational defensively at third base and would provide a solid bat at the hot corner. Sure, his bat doesn’t play as well at Yankee Stadium as it did at Minute Made, but Bregman is essentially Barry Bonds compared to DJ LeMahieu.
The Yankees made it to the World Series last year and you could make the argument that they are a better team right now than they were when the season ended. Crazy considering they lost a superstar like Juan Soto. However, the team is not complete and if you can add an All Star third baseman for a team friendly short-term deal, I think it’s definitely worth trying.