Yankees Should Retain Charismatic Utility Bat

The team ultimately lost that series and that game was another ugly one from the summer. Still, one can't blame Rosario for trying.

Yankees Should Keep Rosario

Rosario also always seemed to be the first person out of the dugout to greet teammates after big moments as well. Fans of a certain age will remember Derek Jeter doing that, all the way back to the first time the captain dipped his toes in the league back in 1995. Rosario continued the tradition.

The Yanks and Rosario hit it off fast, and considering that the organization made attempts to court him in previous off-seasons, it only makes sense to extend the marriage. There are a myriad of reasons for that, and the first is that he's a solid player. You can rely on him to have a professional bat, and while he'll never be up for a gold glove, he could play shortstop, second, and third base effectively enough when called upon.

Between the Yankees and Washington Nationals, Rosario hit .276/.309/.436. Specifically for the Yankees, Rosario hit .303/.303/.485 in 33 plate appearances.

Those underlying metrics under the hood tell the story of a player who may have underperformed. He had a .298 expected batting average and .458 expected slugging. Rosario also had an average exit velocity of 91.2 MPH and a 45% hard hit rate.

One of Rosario's hallmarks is being tough to strikeout. Rosario had a 16.2% K rate and 22.2% whiff rate. No, he didn't walk much, but when there's a runner on third with less than one out, he profiles as the perfect bat to call upon in hopes of driving that run in.

Rosario isn't just a good player by the numbers. He's a solid teammate, too. According to Gary Phillips of the Daily News, Brad Ausmus described him as the ringleader of the far right hub of the Yankees dugout, in which the Latin players on the team called "La Esquina Caliente" or "The Hot Corner."

Jose Caballero described him as one of the most energetic teammates he ever had.

"The energy that he brings every single day is not matchable. I haven't seen anyone that has that energy," Caballero said, according to Phillips of the Daily News. "He just brings that fire that every team needs. It's cool to play with him because whenever you get a hit, you know for a fact that you're gonna have someone pumped about it."

Great Bench Player for Yankees

Rosario not only regularly launched himself off the bench for teammates when runs scored, but played mentor to Jasson Dominguez. If anybody understands the nature of being a top prospect in New York, look no further than Rosario, who, in 2017, was the fifth-ranked prospect in all of baseball according to Pipeline while with the Mets.

Phillips described Dominguez and Rosario as inseparable back in September. Coaches took notice of this.

"Experience is a great teacher, and Rosie's got some experience," bench coach Ausmus said of Rosario's mentorship role. "He went from a starting shortstop into more of a utility or platoon role. I'm not saying that's where JD is headed, but relating those experiences to JD certainly could help him with his approach to the game on a daily basis."

Money should be no hindrance in the retaining Rosario. He made $1.5 million as a free agent last year with the Tampa Bay Rays. This season, Rosario signed a deal worth $2 million with the Nationals. The next deal should be similar.

Rarely does anybody fit into a culture so fast and make the type of impact he had in such a brief period. Not to mention, with Anthony Volpe missing the beginning of next season, there is more opportunity to play and a chance to compete at shortstop this spring. If he is not brought back based on money, the organization has deeper issues than we realized.

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