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Giants Notes: Eldridge, Luciano, Villar, Rogers, Stroman

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The Giants announced a wave of cuts from camp this morning, with top prospect Bryce Eldridge and former top prospect Marco Luciano among the most notable names sent out to minor league camp. (Luciano is on the 40-man roster and was thus optioned, technically speaking; Eldridge was reassigned to minor league camp.) Right-hander Mason Black was also optioned to minor league camp.

Though some fans might’ve hoped the 20-year-old Eldridge would break camp this year, that was always an extreme long shot. The 2023 first-rounder has all of 17 games above A-ball under his belt: nine in Double-A (where he hit quite well) and eight in Triple-A (where he struggled in a small sample). Eldridge’s overall .289/.372/.513 slash across four minor league levels helped propel him to the No. 12 spot on Baseball America’s top-100 list and did nothing to dispel the notion that he’s San Francisco’s first baseman of the future. For now, however, he’ll open the season in the upper minors while veterans LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores platoon at first base.

Luciano’s path to the roster was similarly unlikely. The former shortstop is still learning the ropes in his new corner-outfield environs, and San Francisco’s outfield mix has little room to break in. Heliot Ramos will be in left field after a breakout 2024 season. Jung Hoo Lee will be back in center now that he’s recovered from last year’s shoulder surgery. Mike Yastrzemski is in right field for what will be his seventh straight season. With Luciano still adjusting to the outfield, it benefits him to be in a setting where he can play every day and further familiarize himself with the new position.

The starters for the Giants are largely set. Patrick Bailey is the primary catcher. Wade and Flores will split at first base. Tyler Fitzgerald moves from shortstop to second base in deference to free agent signee Willy Adames. Matt Chapman inked a six-year extension late last season. Ramos, Lee and Yastrzemski round out the outfield. There’s more competition for the bench spots, but one player who’s all but squeezed out barring injuries further up the depth chart is infielder David Villar.

Villar impressed with a .231/.331/.455 showing and nine homers in 181 plate appearances as a 25-year-old rookie back in 2022. He’s since hit .170/.243/.346 in the majors while turning in only slightly above-average offense in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting. Villar is out of minor league options and has less defensive versatility than fellow infielders Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely. Both Schmitt and Wisely have one minor league option remaining, and both can play shortstop. Villar has never played a professional inning at short.

As soon as Chapman and Adames were locked in on the left side of the infield, Villar looked to be an odd man out. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area wrote yesterday that for the former 11th-rounder, spring training this year is more about showcasing himself to 29 other clubs than earning a spot on the Giants’ roster.

Speculatively speaking, the front offices in Milwaukee and in the Bronx have been eyeing cost-effective third base options. Former Giants GM Scott Harris is now president of baseball operations in Detroit and has been looking for right-handed bats. His club just missed on Alex Bregman and lost one third base candidate (Matt Vierling) to a shoulder strain. Another, Jace Jung, has only 94 big league plate appearances and is out to a slow start this spring.

Villar is 28, out of minor league options and has a .200/.288/.400 slash in 358 big league plate appearances. There’s a chance he’d simply clear waivers and stick with the Giants as non-roster depth. But he’s a .268/.377/.511 hitter in three Triple-A seasons and can play both infield corners — in addition to more limited experience at second base. A club with a less-solidified infield mix could be interested in a small trade or waiver claim. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on how he performs for the remainder of the spring.

Shifting a bit away from the focus on what’s currently taking place in camp, Joel Sherman of the New York Post provides some context on earlier offseason trade talks between the Giants and Yankees. Per Sherman, the Yankees approached the Giants about a potential deal that would’ve sent righty Marcus Stroman to San Francisco in exchange for lefty Taylor Rogers. The Giants weren’t interested in that framework, it seems, preferring to move forward with a rotation including Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander, Jordan Hicks and one of Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong or Landen Roupp. (Harrison seems like the strong favorite.)

The Giants eventually traded Rogers and $6MM to the Reds, ducking out from half the money they still owed to the veteran lefty and adding minor league righty Braxton Roxby to their system in the process. The Yankees spent much of the offseason trying to move Stroman but now might be glad to have hung onto him; Luis Gil is dealing with a shoulder injury that’s thrust Stroman back into the rotation outlook in the Bronx.

Luis Gil To Be Shut Down For At Least Six Weeks Due To Lat Strain

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone informed reporters, including Greg Joyce of The New York Post, that right-hander Luis Gil has a high-grade lat strain. Gil will be shut down from throwing for at least six weeks. Even if he is declared healthy at that point, he would effectively have to restart his spring ramp-up period, so he’s likely out until late May or early June even in a best-case scenario.

It was reported last week that Gil had experienced some shoulder tightness during a bullpen session and would be going for an MRI. It seems that a significant strain was detected which will impact the start of his 2025 season. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relayed over a minute of Boone’s comments, during which the skipper said there are still some further examinations to be done which could reveal more info but that the six-week no-throw is confirmed.

It’s obviously a frustrating development for both Gil and the Yankees. The young pitcher just won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2024. He tossed 151 2/3 innings over 29 starts, allowing 3.50 earned runs per nine. His 12.1% walk rate was on the high side but his 26.8% strikeout rate was quite strong.

That excellent season came on the heels of a lengthy injury absence. Gil had a brief major league debut in 2021 before Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2022 and 2023 seasons. He returned and posted his aforementioned excellent results last year but now his health is now going to be at the forefront again.

The Yankees will now have to adjust their rotation plans, though the good news is that the solution should be pretty simple. The Yanks made a massive $218MM investment in Max Fried this offseason, which seemed to give them a rotation surplus. The club had an on-paper group of Fried, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Gil. That seemingly left Marcus Stroman on the outside looking in and the club reportedly tried to find ways to trade Stroman and the remainder of his contract.

No deal came together, so Stroman reported to camp and has been getting stretched out as a starter. With Gil now set to be on the shelf for a significant time, Stroman should be able to step into a rotation spot without issue.

Perhaps the rotation will again be crowded a few months from now if Gil is able to get healthy, though it’s also possible that other injuries will change the situation between now and then. Though the Yanks are still slated to go into the season with a strong front five, the depth has been thinned out a bit this spring. In addition to losing Gil, prospect Chase Hampton required Tommy John surgery. JT Brubaker, who projected to be a long reliever in the bullpen, suffered three fractured ribs trying to evade a comebacker and has an uncertain timeline.

Behind the rotation of Cole, Fried, Rodón, Schmidt and Stroman, perhaps the out-of-options Yoendrys Gómez can make the Opening Day Roster in the long relief role. Will Warren and Brent Headrick are on the roster and have options, perhaps meaning they will be in the Triple-A rotation. Carlos Carrasco is in camp as some veteran non-roster depth.

Yankees Notes: LeMahieu, Outfield, Judge

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It’s been a tough few days on the injury front for Yankees fans. After the club announced yesterday that right-hander Luis Gil is set to undergo an MRI due to shoulder troubles and not long after it was made public that slugger Giancarlo Stanton will begin the season on the injured list due to soreness in both elbows, another potentially key player for the club went down with a potential injury: veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu.

As noted by MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, manager Aaron Boone told reporters this afternoon that LeMahieu “tweaked” a calf muscle during his second at-bat during today’s game, which was LeMahieu’s spring debut. LeMahieu is receiving treatment for the issue, but Boone called the situation “at least a little concerning” given the veteran’s recent injury history. LeMahieu was limited to just 67 games due to a number of injuries last year, including a hip impingement that ultimately ended his season.

It’s a particularly troubling development seeing as LeMahieu was a likely candidate to be the club’s starting third baseman on Opening Day. A recent MLBTR Poll suggested that 27.5% of respondents expected LeMahieu to receive the lion’s share of playing time at third base this year. That was enough to beat out both Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza as the top internal candidate for the job, though a 34% plurality of respondents suggested that the Yankees’ primary solution at the hot corner was likely to be someone not yet in the organization.

Perhaps today’s injury will make that more likely if LeMahieu winds up unable to get back in time for the beginning of the season later this month, though the pickings remain quite slim on the market with part-time veteran Jose Iglesias standing out as the best infield option still available. If the Yankees can’t find an external solution for the hot corner before Opening Day, it seems likely that Cabrera and Peraza will handle the position in a timeshare until LeMahieu is ready to return, though it’s possible a player such as Jorbit Vivas or Pablo Reyes could make a push for the job as well.

Aside from the news regarding LeMahieu, Hoch suggests that the injury to Stanton could lead to a realigned outfield with Trent Grisham joining the lineup in center field, with Cody Bellinger sliding from center to right field and Aaron Judge moving to DH. Such an arrangement would improve the club’s defense overall by adding a plus glove in center field while also avoiding injury risks for Judge, the reigning AL MVP who stands out as the club’s most important player entering the year. Hoch adds that Boone noted that giving Judge occasional partial days off at DH could be valuable early in the season, though Boone was quick to emphasize that he also values Judge’s ability to contribute on defense in right field. On days where Grisham isn’t joining the lineup in center field and pushing a regular to DH, the club’s internal options to fill in for Stanton include youngster Ben Rice and non-roster invitee Dominic Smith.

Sticking with Judge, the MVP spoke to reporters (including Hoch) this afternoon about his desire to get more at-bats under his belt during Spring Training this year. Today was Judge’s first appearance in a Spring Training game of the year, and notably he received just 24 official at-bats in the spring last season. Judge suggested that additional reps before the season begins could help him to prevent a slow start like the one he had last year, where he batted just .197/.331/.393 in his first 149 trips to the plate before turning his season around in early May and hitting a sensational .357/.492/.787 the rest of the way. Obviously, that type of otherworldly production over the majority of the season would be more than enough to make up for another early-season slump, but Judge’s goal of getting something closer to 40 or 50 plate appearances in this spring is an understandable one given his struggles early last year.

Giancarlo Stanton To Begin Season On Injured List

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The Yankees officially announced that Giancarlo Stanton won’t be available for the start of the season, as the slugger will be placed on the injured list due to his recurring elbow issues.  Stanton received PRP injections in both elbows, and is expected to return to the team’s spring camp later this week after dealing with an unspecified personal matter in New York.

The announcement doesn’t come as any surprise, as Stanton hasn’t swung a bat in five or six weeks due to continued soreness in his elbows.  Two weeks ago, Stanton and manager Aaron Boone described the problem as similar to tennis elbow, with Stanton noting that some tendon damage had taken place.  While surgery wasn’t being considered, surgery would naturally become an option (or inevitable) in the event of an actual tendon tear, which is why Stanton said he and the team were being cautious in their approach to the injuries.

No timetable was announced for Stanton’s recovery, but probably the end of April would represent a best-case scenario for the five-time All-Star to make his 2025 debut.  Some time will be needed to evaluate Stanton’s elbows in the aftermath of the PRP treatment, and if all is well, he’d then need to start his usual ramp-up proceedings after missing so much of both Spring Training and even his pre-camp offseason work.  Given Stanton’s long history of leg-related injuries, he’ll need some prep time beyond just hitting work, even if he is going to be a DH-only player this season.

Injuries have long hampered Stanton’s career, and kept from fully delivering on the whopping 13-year, $325MM contract he signed with the Marlins back in November 2014.  There is still $96MM owed to Stanton in the final three guaranteed years of that deal, counting the $10MM, though the Yankees are only responsible for covering $66MM of that figure as per the terms of the trade that brought Stanton from Miami to New York in December 2017.

Stanton has been pretty productive (.241/.323/.483 with 162 home runs in 2776 plate appearances) during his time in the pinstripes, and has still looked like one of baseball’s most dangerous hitters from time to time.  However, those red-hot streaks have been countered by both extended slumps, and several times when Stanton has simply been unable to play due to injury.

The 2024 season saw Stanton miss about five weeks due to a hamstring strain, though he bounced back reasonably well from a down year in 2023.  Stanton hit .233/.298/.475 with 27 home runs in 459 PA last season, which translated to a 116 wRC+ even if low average and on-base numbers continue to be a concern.  The slugger then elevated his game in October, hitting .273/.339/.709 with seven homers over 62 PA during New York’s playoff run, and he captured ALCS MVP honors for his huge performance in the Yankees’ five-game elimination of the Guardians.

Following up that great postseason with yet another significant injury is undoubtedly a huge frustration for Stanton as he enters his 16th Major League campaign (and his age-35 season).  The fact that these elbow problems are an entirely new injury for Stanton could be viewed in one of two ways — either as a positive that he isn’t again dealing with leg problems, or as a negative that Stanton is now dealing with elbow issues on top of the ever-present concern over his lower body.

With Stanton out, the Yankees might just opt to fill the designated hitter spot with a rotation of players, in order to spread around at-bats and partial rest days for other veterans like Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, or DJ LeMahieu.  In terms of overall roster construction, Ben Rice now looks to have a better chance of making the Opening Day roster, and picking up some DH at-bats himself.

An external addition also can’t be ruled out, if Stanton is facing an extended amount of time on the IL.  Reports have already indicated the Yankees have been in touch with J.D. Martinez, perhaps laying some groundwork for a future contract in case Stanton isn’t making much progress in a couple of weeks’ time.  Adding a prominent veteran like Martinez, however, would also threaten to push the Yankees’ even further over the top luxury tax tire — RosterResource projects New York’s tax number at roughly $305.1MM, and beyond the upper penalty threshold of $301MM.

Yankees Have Had “Some Contact With” J.D. Martinez

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J.D. Martinez is still looking for a new contract as March begins, as the 37-year-old is coming off a decent but unspectacular season with the Mets.  There hadn’t been any public buzz about teams connected to Martinez, yet Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees have “some contact with” Martinez’s camp, likely in connection to the ongoing uncertainty over Giancarlo Stanton’s status.

There isn’t any indication that the Yankees’ interest is anything more than due diligence at this point, though reaching out to establish some rapport with Martinez could be viewed as a first step in case Stanton ends up missing significant time.  As Heyman notes, it doesn’t seem likely that Martinez would be signed just “as a stopgap player” if Stanton ultimately isn’t out of action for much beyond Opening Day.  Martinez has limited roster utility as a virtual DH-only player at this point in his career, and the Yankees could always opt to rotate players through the DH spot if Stanton has only a limited absence.

Stanton has been battling discomfort in both of his elbows, and it has now been five or six weeks since the veteran slugger has even swung a bat.  Stanton isn’t in camp at all right now, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Heyman and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Stanton is in New York due to reasons unrelated to his elbow injuries, and it isn’t known when Stanton might be back in Tampa to take part in Spring Training.

Based on the amount of time Stanton has already lost, it seems quite likely he’ll start the season on the injured list, if for no other reason than to give him extra time to fully get healthy and pick up some at-bats during extended Spring Training.  Though hitting is the primary focus since Stanton is also a DH-only player, some overall physical maintenance is necessary given Stanton’s long history of lower-body injuries.  These elbow problems are a new issue for Stanton, adding another unwelcome entry to his checkered injury history.

With all of this in mind, there might be an opening for Martinez in the Bronx, who could basically slide directly into Stanton’s role as the primary designated hitter.  The right-handed hitting Martinez struggled against same-sided pitching in 2024, which could open the door for New York to use a left-handed bat or switch-hitter to spell Martinez against righty pitching.

Martinez hit .235/.320/.406 with 16 home runs over 495 plate appearances for the Mets last season, translating to a 108 wRC+.  A .351 xwOBA that was far above his .318 wOBA indicates that Martinez may have been somewhat unlucky at the plate, as Martinez still made a lot of hard contact and his walk rate was well above the league average.  His 28.5% strikeout rate was quite poor, though strikeouts have long been an issue for Martinez for much of his career.  As noted, Martinez’s chief issue in 2024 was a lack of production against right-handed pitching — he had only a .683 OPS against righties, in comparison to an .836 OPS against southpaws.

It is fair to wonder if Martinez’s late start contributed to these numbers, as he didn’t sign with the Mets until March 23, and he didn’t make his season debut until April 26.  By this standard, Martinez is at least ahead of last year’s schedule in terms of finding his next contract, though missing over two weeks of spring camp has already made for another adjustment to his usual offseason calendar.  In regards to a possible deal with the Yankees, the club is likely to want to gather as much information as possible on Stanton before deciding on a next course of action, so it may yet be a while before the Yankees make a pursuit of Martinez or anyone at all if they opt for external help.

Martinez made a $12MM salary with the Mets last year, in the form of $4.5MM in actual salary and the rest in deferred payments.  The dropoff from his 2023 numbers will mean that Martinez will surely have to settle for less than $12MM wherever he signs, and the Yankees’ luxury tax situation is another possible obstacle to a deal, even if Martinez was available at a relatively inexpensive price.  RosterResource projects New York’s tax number at roughly $305.1MM, already over the highest penalty tier of $301MM, and thus meaning the team will be taxed at a 110 percent rate on every dollar spent beyond $301MM.

10 Out Of Options Players To Watch This Spring

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One of the most interesting elements of spring training every year, at least for those of us who feast on roster construction minutiae, is the collection of players who are out of minor league options. MLBTR just released a full list of such players earlier today.

In many instances, a player being out of minor league options is inconsequential. Justin Steele, Isaac Paredes and Evan Phillips are among the players who fit that description but are in no risk of losing their MLB roster spot. They're all key players on big league rosters who'd never be in danger of being sent down to the minors anyhow.

However, there are typically a handful of players every spring who are on the roster bubble with their current club but who could be a better fit on a team with less competition in their current position. Most of these players have already had big league opportunities with their current club but whether due to injury or poor performance (or both) have yet to firmly seize hold of a roster spot. As players exhaust their minor league options, they'll tend to face increased competition from younger players progressing through the minor league ranks and/or external additions made via trade or free agency. An out-of-options player who doesn't fit his current roster can still go on to find a more solid role and some success elsewhere. Joey Bart was in just this spot last year and after being squeezed out in San Francisco has emerged as Pittsburgh's starting catcher. The Yankees didn't have a spot for Ben Rortvedt, but he's the Rays' clear No. 2 catcher now.

Let's run through 10 names to keep an eye on this spring. Not all of these players will lose their roster spots, and even some who do might not wind up making an impact elsewhere. But each of the names listed here has some reason to hold a bit more intrigue than many of their out-of-options brethren (players listed alphabetically)...

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Luis Gil To Undergo Shoulder MRI; JT Brubaker Suffers Rib Fractures

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Yankees right-hander Luis Gil felt some shoulder tightness during a bullpen session today and is heading for an MRI tomorrow. Manager Aaron Boone relayed the information to reporters, including Greg Joyce of the New York Post. Boone also revealed, per Joyce, that JT Brubaker broke three ribs trying to avoid a comebacker last week. No timeline was provided for Brubaker’s return.

At this point, there’s little information available on Gil and it can only be speculated what comes next. However, an MRI indicates that the club has at least some level of concern about the discomfort in his shoulder.

Any injury absence would obviously be unwelcome news for Gil and the Yankees. The righty missed most of 2022 and 2023 due to Tommy John surgery and the subsequent recovery period, but he returned with a big flourish in 2024. Despite the long layoff, Gil managed to take the ball 29 times and toss 151 2/3 innings for the Yankees last year, plus two more postseason starts. He finished the regular season with a 3.50 earned run average and 26.8% strikeout rate. The 12.1% walk rate was a little high but Gil worked around that enough to win American League Rookie of the Year honors.

Brubaker still hasn’t pitched for the Yankees. He was acquired from the Pirates going into 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He started a rehab assignment in June but then got held back by an oblique strain, which kept him on the IL through the end of the year. Prior to his surgery, he posted a 4.99 ERA in 315 2/3 innings over three seasons with the Bucs from 2020 to 2022.

It’s obviously not ideal for a club’s rotation mix to potentially lose two members but the good news is that the Yankee rotation will still be in strong position even if Gil and/or Brubaker need to miss some time. The Yanks have such a packed rotation that they have been trying to unload Marcus Stroman for weeks.

No deal has come together and Stroman is getting stretched out in spring, so he could easily step into a rotation spot alongside Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt. Brubaker’s injury, and Chase Hampton’s recent Tommy John surgery, will thin out the depth a bit but the club has other potential arms there.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at some notable out of options players coming into the 2025 season in a piece for Front Office subscribers, highlighting Yoendrys Gómez as one of them. Gómez didn’t seem to have a path to a roster spot as of a few hours ago but dual IL stints for Gil and Brubaker would obviously help him. The Yanks also have Will Warren and Brent Headrick on the 40-man roster. Veteran Carlos Carrasco is in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Ideally, Gil’s MRI will find nothing of note and he will be fine after a bit of rest. But even in the event something more significant is found, the Yanks seem well absorbed to put together a strong pitching staff in the short term, a strong demonstration of the “you can never have too much pitching” cliché.

Yankees Extend Aaron Boone

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February 27: Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports the salary breakdown on Boone’s deal. His salary this season jumps to $4.5M. He’ll respectively make $5MM and $5.5MM in 2026 and ’27.

February 20: The Yankees announced this morning that they’ve signed manager Aaron Boone to a two-year contract extension covering the 2026-27 seasons. His previous contract was set to expire after 2025, so this takes him out of “lame duck” status.

The news doesn’t come as a shock. Teams generally don’t like to have managers operating in a lame-duck position. The Yankees did it with Boone once before, in 2021, though that was a rare occurrence. He originally joined the Yankees via a three-year deal going into 2018, with a club option for 2021. The Yanks picked up that option and did let Boone manage that season on an expiring contract.

On October 19 of that year, Boone and the club agreed to a new three-year deal which covered the 2022-24 seasons and came with a ’25 option. There was perhaps a bit of drama around his status as manager when the club missed the playoffs in 2023, but they bounced back last year by winning the American League East and going as far as the World Series. The Yanks picked up their ’25 option at the start of the offseason. More recently, both owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman spoke of wanting to get an extension done.

Boone is a divisive figure in the fanbase but there’s a lot of good stuff on his track record. The Yanks have made the postseason in six of his seven seasons at the helm, with the aforementioned 2023 campaign being the lone exception. They have had some tough postseason losses but, as mentioned, just went to the World Series a few months ago. As skipper, he has a regular season record of 603-429, a .584 winning percentage.

Though some fans will remain unhappy with Boone until he wins a title, it would have been very unusual for a club to move on from a manager or even let him stay in lame-duck status on the heels of winning a pennant.

As always, the Yankees will be going into the upcoming season with their eyes on contention. They lost Juan Soto but had an aggressive offseason nonetheless, adding Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams and others. Another disappointing season will embolden those who are already upset with Boone, but the club clearly feels good enough to put pen to paper with him today, avoiding in-season storylines about his uncertain contract status.

Poll: Yankees’ Third Base Battle

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The Yankees have remodeled their roster in a big way this offseason after losing Juan Soto to their intracity rivals in Queens, bringing in players like Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams, and Cody Bellinger in order to bolster a roster that came into the winter with a number of holes. But apart from adding Goldschmidt at first, they haven’t addressed the infield. Goldschmidt and Anthony Volpe figure to lockdown first base and shortstop respectively, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. is currently penciled in as the club’s starting second baseman after playing third in deference to Gleyber Torres last year.

Chisholm’s likely move back to second leaves a hole at the hot corner, however, and the club’s options to filling that void leave much to be desired. With two years and $30MM remaining on his six-year, $90MM contract with the club, veteran DJ LeMahieu may seem like the obvious favorite to open the season as a starter for the club. Unfortunately, however, the now 36-year-old veteran took a tumble in terms of productivity last year. Injury woes delayed his start to the season and ultimately limited him to just 67 games, but even when LeMahieu was healthy enough to play his work wasn’t up to snuff. The veteran hit just .204/.269/.259, leaving him with a career-worst 52 wRC+ that was 15th from the bottom among all hitters who had at least 200 plate appearances last year.

It’s worth noting that LeMahieu’s underlying performance wasn’t quite as dire as his actual on-field production last year. LeMahieu’s .299 xwOBA far outstrips his actual wOBA of .239, with that expected number actually being better than the expected production of a handful of last year’s quality infield regulars like Luis Rengifo and Tyler Fitzgerald. LeMahieu’s barrel rate of 5.8% was perfectly in line with his numbers from the previous two seasons, and while his hard-hit rate was down, that drop wasn’t enough to justify his complete power outage in 2024, when he hit just five doubles and two homers in 228 trips to the plate. His .229 batting average on balls in play was also almost comically low, and his 15.4% strikeout rate remained excellent.

While any hope of LeMahieu returning to his former status as a clearly above-average contributor is likely misplaced with his 37th birthday approaching this July, it’s certainly not impossible to imagine a bit better luck on batted balls allowing him to be a roughly average regular so long as his defense holds up. That might be enough to assure him of a nearly everyday role with the Yankees to open the season, at least as things stand. While rolling the dice on a rebound from an aging veteran like LeMahieu is sure to a cause queasy feelings among fans, his competition for the job isn’t exactly robust.

The player in the third base competition coming off the best 2024 season is Oswaldo Cabrera. The switch-hitting utility man had an up-and-down season last year, hitting .247/.296/.365 (88 wRC+) overall while primarily playing third base but also mixing in time at every position on the diamond other than catcher and center field. His bat was quite inconsistent throughout the year, however. After a torrid ten-game stretch to open the season where he managed three home runs among twelve hits, Cabrera hit just .221/.269/.304 with a wRC+ of 62 across the rest of the first half, totaling 198 plate appearances in that time.

While the 25-year-old turned things around down the stretch and hit a respectable .271/.319/.424 after the All-Star break, that production came in a reduced role that saw him take just 92 trips to the plate across the final ten weeks of the season last year. That late-season uptick in production combined with the fact that he’ll only turn 26 later this week might be enough to convince Yankees brass that he’s worthy of another shot as a regular, but it would also be understandable if the club saw it as a signal that Cabrera is best suited for a utility role where his versatility can be best maximized and he can be more easily protected from tougher match ups.

The final top contender for playing time on the Yankees infield at the moment is Oswald Peraza. Still just 24 years old, Peraza is a former top-100 prospect who has yet to make a name for himself in the big leagues, having hit just .216/.297/.315 (74 wRC+) in 259 trips to the plate at the big league level over the past three seasons. Peraza is considered a quality defender all around the infield and has gotten only sporadic playing time in the majors to this point, so it’s fair to argue that he has the highest chance of blossoming into an above-average regular of the Yankees’ three primary third base options this year.

With that being said, however, Peraza’s prospect star lost its shine for a reason. A shoulder issue slowed him out of the gate last year, delaying the start of his season until May. And when he finally made his season debut, he found himself struggling to hit even at the Triple-A level with a pedestrian .246/.341/.394 line across 406 plate appearances. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Peraza is out of options, meaning that the Yankees would have to carry him on the big league roster as he not only attempts to bounce back from a tough season in the minors last year but also attempts to produce against major league pitching for the first time in his career.

Other internal options beyond this trio are few and far between. Jorbit Vivas is on the 40-man roster but has yet to make the majors, posted weaker numbers than Peraza at Triple-A last year, and has a minor league option remaining. Pablo Reyes is in camp as a non-roster invitee but is a career .248/.309/.349 (78 wRC+) hitter in the majors who posted a brutal 23 wRC+ in brief stints with the Red Sox and Mets last year. Braden Shewmake and Andrew Velazquez are also in camp with the club but have yet to show an ability to hit major league pitching to this point in their careers. While an external addition would make plenty of sense for the club, the pickings on the free agent market are very slim at this point, and the Yankees have signaled they don’t have the budget space necessary for a pursuit of a high-dollar solution like Nolan Arenado without first offsetting the cost by trading a veteran like Marcus Stroman.

How do MLBTR readers think the situation at third base will play out for the Yankees? Will they lean on LeMahieu in hopes of a bounceback? Should they turn to Cabrera despite his inconsistency and value as a utility player? Or could they give the reins to Peraza in hopes he can continue to develop at the big league level? Have your say in the poll below:

Scott Effross Diagnosed With Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

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Yankees right-hander Scott Effross exited his Grapefruit League debut after one pitch due to what looked to be a leg injury earlier this week. Manager Aaron Boone announced this morning that imaging has indeed revealed a notable injury: a Grade 2 strain of the reliever’s left hamstring (link via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). Effross received a platelet-rich plasma injection this morning and appears to be facing a relatively lengthy absence. “It’s going to take some time,” Boone told the Yankees beat.

It’s a brutal blow for a talented but snakebit reliever who’s dealt with myriad injuries in recent years. Acquired by the Yankees in a 2022 trade sending Hayden Wesneski to the Cubs, Effross has managed only 16 big league innings for New York since that deadline swap. He pitched 12 2/3 excellent innings down the stretch in ’22 (2.13 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate) but required Tommy John surgery late in the year.

That operation cost Effross the entire 2023 season. The hope had been that he’d be ready to go for the 2024 season, but Effross began experiencing back pain in the 2023-24 offseason and required surgery that December. Recovery from that second operation shelved him into mid-July. He allowed two runs in 3 1/3 big league innings last summer, spending the bulk of his time pitching in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he threw quite well. In 35 1/3 minor league frames last year, Effross logged a 2.55 earned run average with a solid 23.4% strikeout rate, an even stronger 6.6% walk rate and a mammoth 61.7% grounder rate. His already pedestrian sinker velocity dipped from a pre-surgery high of 90.7 mph to 89.4 mph in Scranton, but Effross’ results were clearly sharp in spite of that decline.

The Yankees haven’t provided a firm timetable. Two years ago, on Feb. 13, the Yankees announced a Grade 2 hamstring strain for Nestor Cortes, who was shut down from throwing for two weeks but recovered well enough to take the mound for his season debut on April 3. Even injuries with the same diagnosis can come with different timeframes, however. Cortes, for instance, didn’t require a PRP injection, which already signals that the two injuries aren’t necessarily analogous.

With Effross out of the picture for the time being, Boone’s bullpen will feature Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr. and trade acquisition Fernando Cruz. Marcus Stroman is trending toward a relief role as well, though the Yankees have been working to trade him this winter. Right-hander JT Brubaker, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 due to injury, is also in the mix given that he has five years of MLB service time and thus can’t be optioned without his consent. The Effross injury and a potential trade of Stroman could open the door for Clayton Beeter or a non-roster veteran like Tyler Matzek or Rob Zastryzny to win a job as well.

In 74 2/3 innings at the major league level, the 31-year-old Effross touts a 2.89 ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate, 45.9% grounder rate and 0.72 homers per nine innings. He’s picked up 19 holds and four saves in 77 MLB appearances.

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