As the start of approaches, the New York Yankees underwent an intense overhaul, in which the painful departure of Juan Soto from the Bronx to Queens with the Mets already seems a distant memory. While the team did a good job in free agency, it still has some outstanding issues, the most important of which is how serious is the injury to slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who had a great season in 2024
Finding a replacement requires a reliable hitter urgently, as with Soto’s departure from the team, the Bronx Bombers lost some offensive punch
Then, after allowing Gleyber Torres to leave the team, the dugout was left with little depth in the infield
To fill these two gaps, the Yankees tried to move among what was left in free agency, but the team’s general manager, Brian Cashman, has not found any option that convinces him, although in recent days a name sounded interesting and seemed to make sense in a trade, but ultimately did not come to fruition
On the one hand, St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak tried in every way to get rid of his salary and even went so far as to offer one of his figures, third baseman Nolan Arenado, in a possible trade with the Yankees. He is a veteran but still reliable in both aspects of the game:
In 2024, Arenado hit .272/.325/.394/.719 with 16 home runs. While on defense he has won 10 Gold Gloves in 12 seasons with the Rockies and Cardinals, although his numbers are much more discreet compared to other seasons.
Arenado, however, represented a very attractive option compared to what they have in their development leagues for several years. While with the bat, he would have been an important addition to complete a solid batting order from top to bottom
Why don’t the Yankees seem interested in acquiring Arenado?
According to MLB expert Jon Heyman, the Yankees are not interested in the Cardinals player.
“Despite not having a defined third baseman, the Yankees still have no interest in Nolan Arenado, as they see him as declining. Also, they have no money left (and he has $74 million left to earn on his current contract).”
Meanwhile, Brian Cashman has reiterated that his search for an infielder has to fit his budget, either by bringing in a low-cost utility player or cutting Marcus Stroman to free up money, but with Stroman on the team, Arenado has no room
Meanwhile, it looks like the Yankees plan to let the position be contested among the players they have on their roster: DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera will battle it out for third base. Collectively, the trio hit .229 with 10 home runs in 510 at-bats last season.
Peraza is the least experienced of the three players, with just 10 at-bats in 2024, but he showed potential when he made his debut in 2022. Since then he has been limited to a series of injuries in recent years and is waiting for a new opportunity
While LeMahieu, who is about to turn 37, is the favorite to take the job, he has been a former American League batting champion, but has lost considerable pace, also due to injuries, so he is not an entirely reliable option. The Yankees still have a few weeks to figure out what they are going to do to round out their roster.
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