Joel Sherman of The New York Post wrote an article where he detailed how the Yankees’ search for right-handed hitting has gone, and one of the most interesting nuggets comes in the form of a Cody Bellinger pivot plan.
According to his sources, the Yankees had serious discussions with the White Sox regarding outfielder Luis Robert Jr. who was traded to the Mets less than 24 hours before Cody Bellinger returned to the Bronx.
Bellinger had been rumored to be receiving some interest from those very same Mets in the hours leading up to that deal, but The Athletic’s Will Sammon reported last week that they never had serious discussions with the outfielder.
We may never truly know if the Yankees or Scott Boras were bluffing in their willingness to move on before a conclusion eventually was reached, but it seems Brian Cashman had something in his sleeve if he didn’t land Cody Bellinger.
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Why Luis Robert Intruiged the Yankees and Their Outfield Alignment
Luis Robert Jr. is one of the most talented outfielders in the game when healthy, and his right-handed power bat against lefties specifically brings tons of upside.
He has mashed southpaws even in the years where he hasn’t been so effective or healthy in Chicago, and the Yankees could have had him play centerfield or a corner outfield spot for them.
Whether it would have been as an everyday starter or not was not revealed in that article, and there’s no way to definitively know since there’s no details indicating that the Yankees wanted to take the full contract.
Perhaps they were eyeing him as a starting outfielder who could move Jasson Dominguez to the bench, but they could have also platooned him with the switch-hitting bat if needed.
The Yankees are still looking for a right-handed hitting bat, with Joel Sherman noting that their preferred scenario is adding an outfielder such as Austin Slater or Randal Grichuk.
If neither player falls into their price range or decides to go elsewhere, the Yankees could end up adding a first baseman with Paul Goldschmidt and Ty France being players of interest to the Bronx Bombers.
What’s curious is their lack of interest in a right-handed catcher, a potential indication of how they view the currently available options on that market.
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