MLB Rumors: New York Yankees in Market for a Third Baseman?
Last night the New York Yankees lost Alex Rodriguez for six to eight weeks with a broken hand instantly adding fuel to MLB rumors the Yankees will seek help at third base. For right now, the Yankees have recalled Ramiro Pena from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Empire State to take Rodriguez’s spot on the roster. At third base, the Yankees will go with Eric Chavez and Jayson Nix to help fill the void. However, GM Brian Cashman will surely be looking at the trade market and will surely light up the MLB rumor mill in the meantime.
Chavez is still a good third baseman but his injury history is cause for concern. Nix has played well in limited playing time but the back of his baseball card shows that he might not be an everyday solution. Eduardo Nunez is recovering from a thumb injury in Single-A Tampa but his defense was putrid this season and he might not be what Cashman is looking for. The Yankees also sent Nunez to AAA to work on his defense at shortstop. If the Yankees are still committed to Nunez becoming a shortstop then bringing him up might stunt that development. Ramiro Pena is not a long term option and rates as a backup infielder at best.
That leaves the trade market. There are several teams looking for help at third base, although it looks as if the Los Angeles Dodgers might be satisfied at third now that they have acquired Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins. There figures to be several third basemen on the market. Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres, Ty Wigginton and Placido Polanco of the Philadelphia Phillies, Stephen Drew of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Marco Scutaro of the Colorado Rockies are all on the market.
Headley is the most intriguing option but would cost the most in terms of prospects because he is under team control until 2014. Drew has a bit of an injury history and is a free agent at the end of the year so he might not cost much but he hasn’t hit since returning from the DL. Wigginton has been linked as a trade target of the Yankees in the past and it looks like the Phillies might be selling soon and could trade both Polanco and Wigginton. Polanco might be the better option for the Yankees as Wigginton is more of a first baseman these days but he could probably hold his own at third for a little while. Scutaro has played primarily shortstop but has experience playing all over the infield.
Cashman has been reluctant to give up top prospects, or even marginal ones for stopgap solutions. However, if the price is right he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if he thinks it will help the team as he proved with the Ichiro Suzuki trade.
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