
The options on the infield market are dwindling, and if the Yankees want to improve their roster, they’ll need to strike while the iron’s hot. One of the names who I could see being moved is Jake Cronenworth, who is in the second year of an atrocious seven-year $80 million deal that keeps him on the Padres’ payroll until his age-36 season. It’s objectively a bad contract, as San Diego now owes him $11.4 million a year for the next seven seasons. While the Yankees could explore a different route for an infielder, Cronenworth’s deal could be cut down to be a more attractive contract for a contender.
We also know the Yankees are having trouble moving Marcus Stroman, who is owed $18.3 million, so what if they could complete a three-team deal that nets allow them to move off of a big contract and land an infielder?
Why My Crazy Yankees’ Trade Proposal Could Be a Perfect Finish to the Offseason

Last season Jake Cronenworth posted a 105 wRC+ and 2.1 fWAR, which would both improve over what the Yankees got from Gleyber Torres in 2025. The left-handed swinging infielder has the contact skills, plate discipline, and baserunning abilities to be a real net positive for this infield. While his current Luxury Tax hit is around $11.4 million, a trade would cause the hit to reset as it would be the AAV of the remaining money on the deal. The new number would be around $12.1 million, which isn’t a massive difference at all, but does obviously play a role in the overall payroll hit.
The Yankees couldn’t justify a $12.1 million AAV deal over six years, but they could probably justify it if they shaved off some of that cash in this deal. Having the Padres retain about $3 million keeps it around $9.1 million AAV, making the bar extremely low for this deal to be productive. 1 WAR is roughly worth $10 million, so if Cronenworth accumulates 6 WAR over the final six years of his deal, the Yankees would come out with a decent return on investment.
Getting about $60 million of value for $ 56.4 million is a win, and I believe Jake Cronenworth is capable of providing quite a bit more if the Yankees snag him. First, they would be able to play him at 2B where he’s more valuable, as while last year he wasn’t a great defender there he usually puts up positive DRS and OAA numbers there. Getting good-not-great defense at 2B with positive baserunning value and a ~105 wRC+ usually results in a 2-3 WAR season, which the Yankees would happily take.
We could also sweeten the pot for the Padres by taking on some more salary, as left-handed reliever Yuki Matsui is owed $6.2 million a year over the next four seasons if he chooses not to opt out of his deal after 2026.
READ MORE: Yankees staring a brand new outfield alignment in the face

A 5’8 reliever from Japan, Yuki Matsui had some impressive underlying metrics despite a rather mediocre 3.73 ERA out of the bullpen. The left-hander has a four-seamer, slider, splitter, sweeper, and curveball that grade out pretty well but could get even better with a second year in the big leagues. Matsui has a four-seamer with nearly 20 inches of IVB at around 92.2 MPH, not generating a lot of whiffs but being a good pitch for getting ahead in the count or getting pop-ups.
His slider, splitter, and sweeper are all nasty swing-and-miss weapons, with all three pitches having a Whiff% above 36% and an xwOBA below .250. Yuki Matsui could be better with more aggressive usage of his secondaries, boasting the kind of secondaries that can move in different directions and give hitters real issues. The Yankees have helped relievers lean on their best pitches as often as possible, even if it isn’t a fastball, and in Matsui’s case, his high-slot release further amplifies the nastiness of his secondaries.
Sweepers aren’t supposed to be released from that high of an angle, and pitches that prioritize drop more like a splitter or slider will end up with much steeper vertical approach angles. Even if he doesn’t make many improvements, Matsui was in the 90th Percentile in Whiff% while having a .321 xwOBACON; he’s elite at preventing damage contact and picking up whiffs, which will make him very valuable in the big leagues.
If the Padres could eat about $3 million from Cronenworth and $1 million from Matsui annually, they could save north of $60 million in projected expenses over the next six seasons. Give them Yoendrys Gomez to add another young arm to their pitching staff who can both start or work out of the bullpen if needed. Now, how do the Yankees free up the money to make this kind of deal?

The Athletics could still use some more money to help get the MLBPA off their backs and they might need another starter as well. In comes Marcus Stroman, attaching Brock Selvidge who I ranked as the #17 prospect in the Yankees’ organization, and Hal Steinbrenner would still be on the hook for 50% of the money owed to Stroman. This limits the team’s total expenses to about $5.15 million in this deal, and the Padres would route a player like Braden Nett, a 22-year-old right-hander who has command issues as a starter but would slot into the Athletics’ top 30 prospects.
Marcus Stroman at $9.15 million alongside two top-30 prospects is a pretty nice haul for the Athletics, the Padres can offload over $11 million in expenses in 2025 and 2026, and the Yankees get to fill their infield issue while landing a left-handed reliever. It requires them to part ways with a good prospect and someone who is out of MiLB options, but in return, they’re getting an above-average 2B and reliever who fit the roster perfectly. Will this happen? Probably not.
That being said if Luka Doncic can get traded to the Lakers, then I guess anything’s possible right?