The Yankees Are Connected to a Bunch of Infielders Who Might Be Awful
By EJ Fagan
January 11, 2025
***
After a whole lot of cold water being thrown on the Luis Arraez rumors, we have reporting connecting the Yankees to Paul DeJong, Jorge Polanco and Brendan Rodgers.
Two things could be going on here. The bank shot strategic would be that the Yankees are floating names in the media to try and bring down the price of a bigger acquisition like Nolan Arenado or Alex Bregman. I’m skeptical of that idea, because the other explanation makes a lot more sense: the Yankees are at their budget and want to find a bargain option for second or third base.
We also have a Bryan Hoch article with quotes from Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone saying nice things about DJ LeMahieu.
I’m going to talk about each player individually, but the important question is actually: are any of these guys much better than an Oswald(o) platoon?
DJ LeMahieu
Let’s start with LeMahieu. He was one of the worst hitters in the major leagues last year, going .204/.269/.259. I can hear the Yankees thinking: maybe LeMahieu could get back to his modest .258/.345/.375 batting line from 2021-2023 while playing solid defense at third. That wouldn’t be so bad! He started off the 2024 season with an injury. We’re paying him $15 million anyway, so why not give it a one last try?
I hate it. If you give LeMahieu a try as a starting hitter right out of Spring Training, then it could be months before you know whether you have rediscovered Okay LeMahieu or if he’s cooked. He’s 36 years old coming off a .527 OPS. LeMahieu is probably cooked.
We’re also talking about a low ceiling. Even if he isn’t cooked, you’re hoping for a .700 OPS at third base, with terrible base running and good defense. At least Oswald(o) can give the Yankees some youth and athleticism to go with the below average bat.
I also don’t trust Aaron Boone to manage LeMahieu well. I have a post about Boone’s challenge for 2025 ready for when the infield situation is resolved, but the facts is that this roster is built for a different manager. Boone has never been a guy willing to sit a veteran, heavily platoon a lineup or make big changes to the batting order based upon his opposition. I couldn’t see him quickly pulling the plug on DJ LeMahieu if things go south right away.
DeJong, Polanco and Rodgers
I hate two of these and would be okay with a third.
Paul DeJong just had his best season since the 2019 juiced ball. Here’s what that looked like:
Just awful. He closed his eyes and swung at everything in 2024. Occasionally, he ran into one, but was still one of the worst hitters in the majors. He’s a mild reverse platoon split guy, so there’s no hope as an upgrade over Peraza in the platoon. Hard no.
Okay, what about Jorge Polanco? Meet Gleyber Torres 2.0:
He’s another guy who should not be playing second base. but doesn’t really have the bat or athleticism to play anywhere else. To be fair, Polanco did hit a pretty consistent .255/.333/.462 for the Twins from 2021-2023, and Seattle is a rough ballpark to play in. But middle infielders also tend to hit a wall in their early 30s, so Polanco isn’t a great get to rebound. And his defense has been awful the entire time. I’m not quite as much of a hard no as I am with DeJong, but I would have strongly preferred just keeping Gleyber Torres to Polanco. And I did not want to keep Gleyber Torres.
That brings us to the least exciting but most sensible player: Brendan Rodgers. At first glance, his profile is pretty uninspiring:
Unlike the other two, Rodgers might be an upgrade over Peraza in a platoon. He’s a career .677 OPS hitter against righties and .842 against lefties. There’s obviously some Coors Field stuff going on there, but Coors splits can be a little complicated due to the “hangover” effect. As a former top prospect, I think that Rodgers is an interesting change of scenery candidate. The Rockies are kind of bad at everything.
But, he’s also a super low ceiling pick. Oswaldo Peraza brings better defense, speed and the potential to become a real starter to the table. Even as a change of scenery pick, your best hope for Rodgers is that he’s just okay.
Bottom Line
The Yankees really don’t seem comfortable with the Oswald(o) platoon. I don’t get it. The case for playing both more often was the same late in 2024, so I guess that we shouldn’t be surprised that they don’t want to commit to them in 2025. But these moves aren’t much of an upgrade over their league minimum contracts. I’d much rather the Yankees spend their $5 million to shore up the bench or something.
The Problem with Peraza, and most other prospects is this: at some point, Cashman & his own gang of guys (and gals) decide they don't like them, so no matter what they do in the minors, they don't want to give them chance. But they refuse to release them or trade them, and instead turn them into organizational depth. Then there's the coaching by Analytics that's absolutely horrific.
Volpe is not a consistent MLB hitter? Blame it on Cashman's love of Analytics. When national announcers can show you what Volpe is doing wrong, but nothing changes, unless Volpe does it himself. well........
When they admit to finally helping Holmes fix his 3 month sh**show, which was on the last road…
Here's the problem with roster construction involving a platoon: 12 pitchers, 9 starting hitters, 1 back-up catcher, 1 back-up outfielder, 1 platoon guy at 3B, and what does that leave room for? One of DJ (superfluous as a 3B platoon) or Rice (to spell Goldschmidt and his .675 OPS vs. righties, plus emergency catcher).
sometimes it a perfectly reasonable idea not to believe everything you read in the papers.
let's try to keep in mind that Bubba Crosby never actually beat Harry Truman