by EJ Fagan
March 27, 2024
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
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The Yankees were dangerously thin in the infield. Not anymore! The Yankees have acquired Marlins infielder Jon Berti. The Yankees lose John Cruz, a 17 year-old outfield prospect that hasn’t played above rookie ball.
Wow! What a trade. Berti fits this team like a glove:
Here’s what Berti does well:
He’s one of the fastest players in baseball. He lead the NL in stolen bases in 2022 with 41.
He’s a strong fielder all over the infield.
He has some time in the outfield.
He makes a ton of contact
He’s much better against left-handed pitchers.
He’s under team control for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The downside? Berti is pretty much just a slap hitter. He’s coming off a really strong 2023, hitting .294/.344/.405, but hit much more IKF-like in previous years. Maybe he made some permanent adjustment, but my guess is that he’ll hit more like the back of his baseball card in 2024: .258/.337/.368.
Berti is a massive improvement over Kevin Smith, Oswaldo Cabrera and the rest of the bench options that the Yankees were rolling out on the Opening Day roster. In the short term, he’ll start for DJ LeMahieu while he recovers from a bone bruise on his foot. He’ll provide strong defense and reliable, bottom-of-the-order hitting. He’s a good enough overall player that the Yankees aren’t conceding much by letting him play 2 or 3 days per week when Rizzo and LeMahieu need rest.
The long term is where Berti really gets interesting. He is going to be a very important player on the 2024 Yankees in the following situations:
Pinch hitting for Alex Verdugo against a left-handed pitcher.
Pinch running for basically anyone, but especially LeMahieu and Rizzo in later innings, then defensively replacing them.
Situational hitting late in games. I’m going to guess that Berti can bunt.
Occasionally filling in for Volpe at shortstop.
Emergency outfielder.
Injury replacement for Rizzo, LeMahieu, Volpe, Torres, Grisham, maybe Verdugo.
Great job, Brian Cashman. He solved so many problems on this roster with one trade.
Let’s get this season going.
