Yankees' uncertain third base plans should make fans nervous

Over the offseason, the New York Yankees found themselves stifled in their search for a quality third baseman. This notable weakness has only been exacerbated by the season-ending injury to Oswaldo Cabrera and the recent designation of DJ LeMahieu. But having spent a considerable amount of time scuffling with their ages-old foe, the injured list, the Yankees’ priorities have shuffled.

The team had already been compiling an extensive injured list headlined by Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton to start spring training. Now, Stanton has returned, but the injured list has only dug deeper into their roster. Clarke Schmidt has followed Cole’s path and is done for the year and is set to undergo Tommy John surgery, joining fellow starters Ryan Yarbrough and Luis Gil on the IL. The bullpen, like the rotation, has also been riddled with injuries.

When addressing the calamity that has plagued their pitching staff, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters that his trade-deadline priorities focus on adding hurlers. But what does this mean for his long-winded third base search? He had this to say: 

“I’m definitely going to be looking for upgrades if I can. That doesn’t guarantee anything. We’ve lost three starters out of our World Series rotation so far this year, so I’ve got to look and see if I can find a starter.

“I’d certainly love to import a starter, some relievers because our bullpen has been taxed with injuries and an infielder, if possible. That’s a long list. I don’t know if this will be a deep Deadline or not. I don’t know how active we will be. But I can tell you that we will try to import improvements. That’s the gig.” 

From Cashman’s statement, it seems like the infield search has taken a back seat. According to manager Aaron Boone, the plan is to alternate Oswald Peraza with novice infielders J.C. Escarra (the current backup catcher) and Jorbit Vivas at third, none of whom have inspired much confidence at the major league level so far this year. 

Although it’s easy to understand why Cashman is prioritizing pitching, it raises the question if this is truly what third base will look like for the Yankees throughout the rest of the season. However, to say that Cashman has been idle on the third base problem would be an unfair assessment. 

The Yankee GM has called about a few trade candidates, though not all names should elicit excitement. Still, when facing the possibility of filling the void with the assortment Boone mentioned, even the unattractive trade candidates sound pretty good. If Cashman doesn’t trade for a third baseman by the deadline, Yankees fans will surely hope that first-year rookies Vivas and Escarra can rapidly mature into productive major league third baseman before the end of the year.