The New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips discussed the Yankees‘ latest updates regarding their bench search on the Bronx Beat, a show on the Fireside Yankees YouTube Channel.
He mentioned that the Yankees had been in discussions with 1B Ty France as recently as this past Tuesday, as the team would be viewing him as a right-handed hitter who can play elite defense at first base.
Last season he won the American League Gold Glove at the first base position, and while his 92 wRC+ was below-average, he had strong underlying metrics which indicated he ran into some poor luck.
As a right-handed hitter who has a healthy amount of opposite-field flyballs the Yankees might view him as a good fit for this bench and ballpark, but whether they get a deal done or not remains to be seen.
READ MORE: The Yankees made a $1 million free agent offer to Austin Slater
Why the Yankees’ Pursuit of a Bench Bat Includes Ty France
Ty France only has a .680 OPS against lefties over the last two seasons, but he does have a .771 Expected OPS in these matchups as well in that timespan.
As we’ve seen with their interest in an Austin Slater reunion, the Yankees value underlying metrics more than they do results especially in these small-sample situations.
New York has remain engaged with various right-handed hitters including fellow first baseman Paul Goldschmidt who would be a reunion candidate alongside Slater.
Another pattern that you can pick up is the team’s emphasis on defense with this bench additions, as Gary Phillips also noted that there wasn’t much noise about the Yankees being into Tommy Pham or Miguel Andujar.
Ty France, Paul Goldschmidt, and Austin Slater are all solid defensive players at their respective positions and would help the team on that side of the ball.
The club may not be interested in adding another below-average defensive starter against southpaws given that Amed Rosario is already at third base, and in this instance you could even have Ben Rice catching.
Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon being out of the lineup versus a tough left-hander could prove to be an issue for the Yankees’ pitching staff if the team adds another below-average defender at first or left field.
If the team doesn’t have Ben Rice at catcher and Austin Wells still gets the start, then they would be moving Cody Bellinger off of left field where he’s elite to centerfield where he’s been below-average in recent years.
Defense is still an important part of the Yankees’ calculus as is the offense, and time will tell if they end up landing a bench bat.
You can watch the Full Podcast on the Fireside Yankees YouTube Channel in the link below:
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