Yankees Mailbag: Best fits for an infield pivot

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

CA_Yankee_Fan asks: Who is the best free agent position player fit for the Yankees besides Bellinger or Tucker?

The answer depends on if you’re assuming one of them will be signed, or if you ignoring them both entirely. For fun, lets go through both scenarios quickly.

If the Yankees stick to their plan of signing one of the two big names to finish up their outfield, the rest of their payroll would probably go towards the pitching staff but there are still position players they could look for to fill out the margins of the roster. If the team wants to have an option beyond Anthony Volpe at shortstop and prefers having Jose Caballero in his utility role, then a reunion with Isiah Kiner-Falefa could make sense for a stopgap competition. Otherwise they could look towards first base: it’s where Ben Rice will likely get the majority of his playing time next year, but if they wanted to get a replacement for Paul Goldschmidt for depth or platoon purposes Rhys Hoskins is available should he not get an outright starting spot, and older veterans like Justin Turner and Carlos Santana could also be utilized.

However, the flashier answers come from our second scenario, where the Yankees pivot away from the outfield and entrust left field to either Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones and go after an infield upgrade. Bo Bichette is a name that has been linked to the Yankees earlier in the offseason, and would be an outright upgrade to what Volpe has given them recently. He comes with defensive limitations, ones that may necessitate him being a longer-term replacement for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second should the team not re-sign him after next season, but for an immediate fit he’d become the team’s starting shortstop. It’s an awkward upgrade as the team seems to want to give Volpe another shot at starting and he may prove them right with a healthy season, but if forced to pick between the two I don’t know who wouldn’t walk away happier with Bichette right now.

Even with this, I wouldn’t come away impressed with the Yankees’ changes though. If they aren’t spending big money on the outfield, I’d rather them spend it somewhere that would still net them a huge bat rather than just a decent upgrade. If they aren’t going after Bellinger or Tucker, I think the move to make would be to go hard after Alex Bregman and lock down third base with the best player they’ve fielded there since Alex Rodriguez. Yes, they already have Ryan McMahon, but they’re only on the hook for $12 million in hits to the luxury tax for this and next season – a moveable amount if Brian Cashman could swing Bregman. This gives them instant protection in the lineup for Aaron Judge, while also still maintaining solid defense for the infield. It’s a bit of a pipe dream as the outfield remains the most obvious spot to go after, but if they strike out there and Bregman remains on the market, why not go for him?

Keiterbaseball asks: With the Rangers cutting payroll, any thoughts on a potential Corey Seager trade?

It’s unlikely at best, for a few reasons. Namely, the “reports” that have circulated around Seager’s name recently on social media stem from an article written by Evan Grant from the Dallas Morning News where he discussed the possibility of the Rangers moving a big contract off their payroll should their cost-cutting maneuvers extend to going below $200 million. Many people read that headline days later out of context and assumed that Seager could be in play amongst the Rangers’ other moves to cut costs, such as non-tendering Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim, but Grant himself never said that was on the table. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal later confirmed that the Rangers will “almost certainly” not move Seager or rotation stars Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.

All of that should be more than enough to quell any rumors of a Seager trade for now, but on top of that simply figuring out the value of a Seager trade would be difficult. Seager’s been one of the best players in baseball when he’s on the field, earning at least 4 fWAR a year for the last four years, but he’s been unable to play an entire year without spending at least part of it on the IL for most of his career. He’s due a hefty $32.5 million a year until 2031, and the Rangers have already gotten a lot of the prime years of that contract as he enters his age-32 season. What risks other teams would be willing to take as far a prospect capital to go and get him would vary greatly, and the Rangers are still a team looking to contend despite these payroll cuts so there’s no world where they’re just salary dumping him. They’re not entertaining offers on Seager, but even if they were it’d be an uphill battle for them to find agreeable terms with an inquiring trade partner.