Looking At The Angels’ Internal Infield Options
The Angels have had a quiet offseason. It can be argued their biggest move was restructuring Anthony Rendon‘s final year under contract, with the two parties deferring his $38MM salary over five years. In terms of adding to the roster, the club signed Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates, and recently Brent Suter for the bullpen. They’ve also bought low on Alek Manoah, Grayson Rodriguez, and Josh Lowe (the latter two by trade) and re-signed Yoan Moncada to play third base.
With Moncada being a returning player, the Angels’ infield hasn’t seen much of an upgrade. Perhaps that’s due to financial uncertainty. The club recently terminated its contract with Main Street Sports and may consider turning over their broadcasts to MLB – generally a less-lucrative arrangement. Whatever the reason, the team’s infield still has some question marks, especially at second base. What options do the Angels have at present? Let’s take a look at the possibilities:
Moore is the incumbent at the keystone after Luis Rengifo, who led Angels second basemen with 260 plate appearances last year, became a free agent. He was the club’s first-round draft pick in 2024 and will get plenty of opportunities on that basis alone. That said, Moore struggled mightily at the plate in his debut season in 2025. In 184 PA across 53 games, he batted .198/.284/.370 and graded out 18% below average by wRC+. His 10.3% walk rate was a positive, but that was outweighed by a 33.7% strikeout rate. Moore also has room for improvement on defense, with Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both taking a negative view of his work at the keystone. The key for him in 2026 will be making more consistent contact and getting on base so he can take advantage of his 78th-percentile speed.
Grissom was acquired from the Red Sox two months ago. He owns a career line of .255/.309/.346 with an 82 wRC+ in 350 PA for the Braves and Red Sox from 2022-24. Unfortunately, he didn’t play at all in the majors in 2025, instead spending the year at Triple-A. While he was above-average there and posted good strikeout and walk numbers, time is running out for him to prove himself at the big-league level. Grissom’s defense at second base is on par with Moore’s (-3 DRS and -8 OAA in 613 innings), so he’ll need to outhit Moore to compete with the recent draftee for playing time. Grissom is out of options and comes with five additional years of team control.
Peraza is a former Yankees prospect who has yet to make an impression in the majors outside of a late-season callup in 2022. In 524 PA from 2022-25, Peraza has batted just .189/.260/.282 with a 54 wRC+. He has also struck out at a 27.1% clip in his career, including 34.7% of the time in 95 PA with the Angels in 2025. He has only played 205 career innings at second base, although DRS and OAA both see him as slightly above average. Apart from his range, Peraza also has 81st-percentile arm strength, so the Angels might take advantage by playing him across the infield. Of course, he’ll need to cut back on the strikeouts and get on base more frequently to justify a bigger role than “defensive replacement.”
Guzman was an international signing in 2021 and made his big-league debut at the end of last year, albeit for just 43 PA. He batted .247/.343/.426 with a 119 wRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A in 2025, showing decent power with 17 home runs. Paris was the Angels’ second-round draft pick in 2019 and has made 245 PA in the majors from 2023-25. He is a steady defender but hasn’t shown anything with the bat, with a career wRC+ of 50 and an extremely high 42.1% strikeout rate in 140 PA last year. Even as depth pieces, Guzman and Paris are lower on the pecking order than Grissom and Peraza. Both have at least one option remaining, so they’re likely ticketed for Triple-A.
Minor-League Signings
Trey Mancini and Jeimer Candelario are in the organization on minor-league deals and will likely attend big-league Spring Training. Both are veterans with minimal track records in recent years. Mancini was out of baseball entirely in 2024 and spent 2025 with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting 10% better than average by wRC+ in 335 PA. His last productive big-league season was in 2022 (105 wRC+). Candelario was released by the Reds mid-way through last year after seeing his offense crater compared to the heights of his 2023 campaign. In 554 PA since the start of 2024, he owns a wRC+ of just 76 and has struggled badly to get on base. Candelario is limited to the infield corners and Mancini to just first base, so their ceilings are essentially as backups if Moncada or Nolan Schanuel get injured.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Angels Acquire Oswald Peraza
The Yankees have traded infielder Oswald Peraza to the Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Wilberson De Pena, as well as international bonus pool money. Both teams have announced the deal. To make room for Peraza, the Angels have designated Kevin Newman for assignment.
Peraza, now 25, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent in 2016, and as he rose through the ranks of their minor league system, he also rose up organizational prospect rankings. Entering the 2022 season, when he made his big league debut, he was a consensus top-100 prospect. He impressed during a cup of coffee that September, hitting .306 with a 145 wRC+, and was once again a top-100 prospect entering 2023. Since then, however, his stock has fallen fast. He has slashed .190/.262/.285 in 429 plate appearances from 2022-25, with seven home runs and nine stolen bases in 145 games. Spending time at second base, third base, and shortstop, he has graded out as an average-to-slightly-above-average defender, but his versatile glove has not been nearly enough to make up for his ineffective bat. His offensive numbers at Triple-A over the past few years have also been less than impressive.
After the Yankees traded for infielders Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario last week, the clock began to tick on Peraza’s tenure with the club. Their deal to acquire José Caballero today was surely the final nail in the coffin, even though the Peraza trade was technically reported shortly before the Caballero agreement. The Yankees have revamped their infield and bench as part of their efforts to take down the Blue Jays to defend their AL East crown. A floundering former top prospect no longer fit into the picture.
Peraza is a textbook change-of-scenery candidate. The Angels acquire him with four years of team control remaining after 2025, although he is out of options. For now, he will offer them depth off the bench and a potential alternative to the slumping Luis Rengifo. If he impresses, he should be in the mix for the second or third base job next season, with Rengifo and Yoán Moncada set to hit free agency at the end of the year. On the other hand, if he continues to hit as poorly as he did with the Yankees, he’ll soon be staring down the barrel of a DFA.
Meanwhile, De Pena is a textbook example of a lottery-ticket prospect. The 18-year-old has not has not yet had much of a chance to make an impression in his professional career. He signed with the Angels as an international free agent last January and has spent the past two seasons as a corner outfielder in the Dominican Summer League. He has hit .211 with four home runs and five doubles in 31 games this year.
Newman signed with the Angels in the offseason on a one-year, $2.75MM guarantee. While he has never been known for his bat, he hit just well enough to offer some value as a utility infielder for the Pirates, Reds, and Diamondbacks from 2022-24. In 2025, however, he has hit just .202 with only four extra-base hits in 57 games. He has a .481 OPS and -0.7 FanGraphs WAR. Given his poor performance and the not-insignificant amount of money remaining on his contract, he is almost certain to pass through waivers, after which he is likely to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Peraza to the Angels was first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network. Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the Yankees would receive De Pena and international bonus pool money in return.
Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu
July 10: The Yankees announced that LeMahieu has been released.
July 9: Veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu has been designated for assignment by the Yankees, per multiple reports. Jorge Castillo of ESPN was among those to relay the news, adding that infielder Jorbit Vivas has been recalled as the corresponding move.
The move comes just a few days ahead of LeMahieu’s 37th birthday, which will be on Sunday. Though he was previously an excellent big league hitter capable of playing multiple positions, his production has nosedived as he has aged, both offensively and defensively.
He started this season on the 10-day injured list due to a calf strain. He came off the IL in mid-May. The Yanks gave him a chance to take over the second base job, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. moved over to third base, but LeMahieu’s offense was subpar. Manager Aaron Boone recently announced that Chisholm would be moving back to second base. LeMahieu had played third base in the past but Boone said this week that wouldn’t be an option as it would be too physically challenging for LeMahieu. General manager Brian Cashman said today that LeMahieu mentioned back in the winter that playing third base would be an issue for him physically, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post.
That left the veteran seemingly limited to a bench role but without the defensive versatility he had previously provided. It seemed the window was closing on him being a useful contributor for the Yankees, so they are moving on.
After many years with the Rockies, the Yankees originally signed LeMahieu ahead of the 2019 season, a two-year deal with a $24MM guarantee. He was brilliant over the course of that contract, hitting a combined .336/.386/.536 over 195 games. That production led to a 146 wRC+, indicating he was 46% better than the league average hitter. He did that while bouncing between first base, second base and third base as needed.
He returned to free agency but the Yanks eventually re-signed him, a six-year pact this time with a $90MM guarantee. In hindsight, that ultimately proved to be a misstep for the Yanks. In 2021, LeMahieu’s production fell to .268/.349/.362, translating to a 101 wRC+. He bounced back slightly in 2022, with a .261/.357/.377 line and 115 wRC+, but he was a league average hitter again in 2023.
Last year, his age and injuries really seemed to catch up with him. He missed significant time due to a right foot contusion and a right hip impingement. He only got into 67 games and hit .204/.269/.259 for a 53 wRC+. This year, as mentioned, he began the year on the IL. His offense came back to some degree, but his .266/.338/.336 line thus far translates to a wRC+ of 95.
It has long seemed like LeMahieu has been cornered. Chisholm is a better defender at second base and appears more comfortable there. Adding a third baseman at the deadline and moving Chisholm to the keystone has long seemed like a plan for the Yankees. They have been connected to players like Ryan McMahon and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in recent weeks. Cashman admitted today that he plans to look for third base upgrades ahead of the deadline, per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
LeMahieu will be on the open market in the coming days. He is making $15MM annually through the end of next year, meaning there is still about $22MM left to be paid out between now and then. No club will want to claim that off the waiver wire. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and keep those salary commitments in place. The Yankees may skip that formality and simply release him. They will stay on the hook for that money.
At that point, any other club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the league minimum salary. That amount would be subtracted from what the Yankees pay. Given LeMahieu’s health, age and recent performance, he may be limited to minor league offers.
For now, the Yanks will cover third with some combination of Vivas, Oswald Peraza and backup catcher J.C. Escarra, Boone said today, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. However, as mentioned, they seem likely to add a player from outside the organization by the July 31st deadline.
Photos courtesy of Bill Streicher and Andy Marlin, Imagn Images
Yankees Moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. Back To Second Base
3:20pm: Boone tells the Yankees beat that there’s no thought of playing LeMahieu at third base (link via Chris Kirschner of The Athletic). Playing third base is physically challenging for LeMahieu at this stage of his career, and the Yankees are viewing him primarily as a bench bat moving forward. Asked how the veteran infielder took the news, Boone candidly replied, “Not great, necessarily, but that’s kind of the situation we’re in right now.”
LeMahieu is being paid $15MM this season and is owed another $15MM in 2026.
11:25am: Since returning to the Yankees following a monthlong stay on the injured list due to an oblique strain, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has appeared in 29 games and played third base in every single one of them. The versatile infielder/outfielder recently voiced a team-first approach saying he’ll play anywhere but noted that his preference is second base. That shift is now in the works, as manager Aaron Boone tells Talkin’ Yanks that Chisholm will move back to second base beginning tonight. Oswald Peraza will play third base this evening, Boone adds.
It’s a notable change both in that it sets the Yankees up for a better defensive alignment while also potentially tipping their hand with regard to the looming trade deadline. Chisholm has been a capable but unspectacular defender at the hot corner. He grades out more effectively at second base. Peraza hasn’t hit at all this season but draws strong defensive marks for his glovework at the hot corner. Meanwhile, veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu has provided slightly below-average offense and diminished defense at second base (particularly relative to his brilliant peak). He hasn’t logged an inning at third base this year.
The Yankees are widely expected to search for infield help (among other things) ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. While it’s always possible they bring in another second baseman and move Chisholm back to third base, the early shift back to his more natural position seems to signal a preference for Chisholm to remain there. Boone acknowledged that his preference is to keep Chisholm at second base for now and avoid a situation where he’s bouncing back and forth between the two positions. A third base upgrade stands as a more natural target as the Yankees peruse the trade market.
The Yanks have already been connected to Colorado’s Ryan McMahon and Pittsburgh’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa (a former Yankee), among other possible third base targets. Presumably, they would be prominent suitors for Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez if he’s made available, but the D-backs are on the periphery of the NL Wild Card chase and GM Mike Hazen has signaled that he hopes to avoid a sell-off. Their direction — and the availability of players like Suárez, Zac Gallen, Josh Naylor and Merrill Kelly — will largely boil down to how the Diamondbacks perform over the next couple weeks.
It’s not clear in the interim how the Yankees will handle third base. Boone committed only to Peraza playing there tonight and said that otherwise the position will “remain fluid,” with Chisholm sticking over at second base. LeMahieu has plenty of career experience at the hot corner but has been exclusively a second baseman in 2025. Peraza is a strong defender there but has just a .154/.225/.262 batting line, albeit in a relatively small sample of 142 plate appearances and with sporadic, infrequent playing time. Oswaldo Cabrera is still out long-term due to a broken ankle. Jorbit Vivas played a bit of third base earlier this season but is back in Triple-A and in the midst of a rough slump there (.175/.309/.211 across his past 15 games).
The Yankees have also brought in a couple of veterans on non-roster deals over the past week. Jeimer Candelario was a quality offensive performer in four years with the Tigers before becoming a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason. His three-year, $45MM deal with the Reds didn’t pan out at all, and Cincinnati released him on June 29. Candelario signed with the Yankees over the weekend. On the other side of the spectrum, Nicky Lopez is an all-glove utilityman with the versatility to handle shortstop, second base or third base. He opted out of a minor league deal with the D-backs on July 1 and signed with the Yankees a couple days later.
Yankees Considering Adding Right-Handed Hitting Depth
It wasn’t long ago that the Yankees’ lineup was almost entirely comprised of right-handed hitters, but the additions of such players as Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr., plus the emergence of in-house options like Austin Wells, Ben Rice, and switch-hitter Jasson Dominguez has brought a lot more balance to the Bronx. GM Brian Cashman even told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) yesterday that he would be “happier” with another right-handed bat available on the roster, and that the Yankees are exploring such options as other teams make their end-of-spring cuts.
“I think some choices have emerged in camp, then it comes down to if those choices are better than anything else that might exist outside that you could either trade for and that you are comfortable enough giving up what it would take to get,” Cashman said. “We’re measuring that versus options that might get the bad word in another camp that they’re not making it and all of a sudden we’re competing for those services.”
Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu will both be on the injured list for the foreseeable future, leaving the roster short of two prominent bats that were expected (particularly in Stanton’s case) for regular roles. Ideally, a right-handed hitter that could handle at least one of left field or third base would be the best fit, as such a player could step into the outfield if Dominguez struggles in his first extended stint of MLB playing time, or help out at a third base position that remains a question mark as Opening Day approaches.
The Yankees have such a player available in utilityman Pablo Reyes, who has amassed quite a bit of playing time at third, in left, and at other positions over his six big league seasons. Reyes hasn’t hit much at the big league level, but he has hit decently well this spring, to the point that he seems to be on track to have his minor league contract selected to New York’s Opening Day roster. That decision would put Reyes in position to share some at-bats at the hot corner with switch-hitter Oswaldo Cabrera.
Whether or not Reyes makes the team remains to be seen, as he could yet be the odd man out should the Yankees indeed bring a new player into the mix. At the very least, Reyes seems to be a higher priority to the team than former top prospect Oswald Peraza. As Kirschner observes, Cashman talking so openly about a need for right-handed hitting help doesn’t exactly bode well for Peraza’s future in the Bronx.
Peraza burst into the majors with an .832 OPS over 58 plate appearances during his 2022 rookie season, but that was reduced to a .539 OPS in 191 PA in 2023, as he didn’t rise to the occasion when given more of an opportunity at third base with LeMahieu on the injured list. A shoulder injury then delayed his start to the 2024 season, and Peraza ended up making only four MLB appearances last year.
Both Reyes and Peraza are out of minor league options, so they would have to first go through waivers before New York could them send them to Triple-A. Kirschner feels Peraza wouldn’t last long on the waiver wire given his solid defense, plus his former top-100 prospect status would surely attract teams that might feel he needs a change of scenery. Having two out-of-options players on the bench isn’t ideal anyway from a roster flexibility standpoint, so it will be interesting to see how the Yankees proceed with this duo, or if a new face is brought into the organization.
DJ LeMahieu Diagnosed With Calf Strain
Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu recently underwent an MRI after tweaking a calf muscle during his spring debut and has been diagnosed with a strain, LeMahieu himself told the Yankees beat this morning (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). It’s a Grade 1 or 2 strain, and while there’s no official timetable yet, LeMahieu will go at least a “couple” weeks without any baseball activity at all. That seems likely to rule him out for Opening Day, though the team hasn’t yet formally announced as much. He’s meeting with the team’s medical staff this morning to map out a timetable.
It’s another health setback for the 36-year-old LeMahieu, who appeared in just 67 games last season due to foot and hip injuries. He wasn’t productive when on the field either, batting just .204/.269/.259 with a pair of homers in 228 trips to the plate. LeMahieu posted career-low marks in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, and his 56.4% ground-ball rate was the second-highest mark of his career and sixth-highest in MLB (min. 220 plate appearances). For a player whose sprint speed checked into the 20th percentile of big league position players, that’s obviously not a good trend.
The Yankees originally signed LeMahieu to a two-year, $24MM deal in the 2018-19 offseason. It proved to be one of their best free agent pickups in recent memory, as he posted a mammoth .336/.386/.536 over those two years, finishing top-four in MVP voting in both 2019 and 2020. The Yankees re-signed LeMahieu for $90MM the following winter. That’s about the sum he was expected to land over a four-year pact, but the Yankees stretched it out over six seasons to lighten the luxury tax hit. He’s never recaptured that peak 2019-20 form, but LeMahieu was a solid and versatile contributor from 2021-23, hitting .258/.345/.375 with quality glovework at first base, second base and third base.
Despite the poor showing in 2024, LeMahieu entered camp squarely in the mix for regular reps at third base. The Yankees’ budget is seemingly at its limit. They’ve passed on adding an infielder at either second base or third base (Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play either spot) and appear committed to going with in-house options. LeMahieu, former top prospect Oswald Peraza and utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera have been vying for playing time at the hot corner.
LeMahieu’s remaining two years and $30MM were always going to put him on the roster with some type of role, but his injury opens the door for a younger option at third base — be it Peraza, Cabrera or perhaps Jorbit Vivas. Vivas didn’t make his spring debut until this week. He’d been dealing with some shoulder soreness, but he’ll likely join the third base competition now. He’s already on the 40-man roster.
10 Out Of Options Players To Watch This Spring
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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Poll: Yankees’ Third Base Battle
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:
Who will start the most games for the Yankees at third base in 2025?
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Someone not yet in the organization 34% (2,606)
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DJ LeMahieu 27% (2,075)
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Oswaldo Cabrera 21% (1,587)
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Oswald Peraza 18% (1,373)
Total votes: 7,641
Yankees Planning To Play Jasson Dominguez In Left Field
Yankees manager Aaron Boone appeared on WFAN with Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata this afternoon. He fielded a few questions about the team’s position player mix.
Boone indicated that his starting outfield was likely to comprise Jasson Domínguez in left field, Cody Bellinger in center, and Aaron Judge in right. Trent Grisham is ticketed for a fourth outfield role. The eighth-year skipper suggested he hoped to keep Domínguez mostly in left field while using Bellinger a bit more flexibly. He noted that there’ll be days when Judge serves as a designated hitter while Giancarlo Stanton gets a day off. In those instances, Grisham would likely draw into center field with Bellinger kicking over to right.
The most notable aspect is that the Yankees are preparing for Domínguez to get everyday run. Owner Hal Steinbrenner made similar comments in an interview with Meredith Marakovitz of the YES Network this afternoon. “I see him as the starting left fielder,” Steinbrenner replied when asked about Domínguez’s role. “There’ll be a lot of meetings and discussions in Spring Training obviously and we’ll see how he performs and how he feels, but everybody’s very excited about him.”
Domínguez, who turns 22 next month, should be ticketed for his first extended big league audition. He drilled four homers in eight games as a 20-year-old back in 2023. An elbow injury then ended his season and required Tommy John surgery that shelved him into the middle of June. New York seemed reluctant to give Domínguez regular run fresh off the injury. He bounced on and off the active roster for the final six weeks of the season, though the Yanks stuck with Alex Verdugo as their everyday player in left field. Domínguez got into 18 games and struggled to a .179/.313/.304 slash.
The switch-hitting outfielder remains one of the game’s top young talents. Baseball America ranked Domínguez as New York’s top prospect and among the sport’s 30 best prospects on their updated Top 100 list. He has been a strong performer in the minors. Domínguez has a .253/.360/.430 line across parts of three Double-A seasons and carries a huge .325/.391/.495 mark in 230 plate appearances with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Boone added that with the current roster makeup, he views Jazz Chisholm Jr. as the starter at second base. He named DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza as players who could battle for playing time at third base. New York has been linked to free agents Jorge Polanco and Brendan Rodgers, so there’s still a chance for an acquisition to push Chisholm back to the hot corner.
Chisholm has only started two games at second base since 2022. He played there regularly with the Marlins early in his career before moving to center field. Miami brought him back into the infield shortly before last summer’s deadline in a thinly veiled effort to expand his versatility to trade partners.
The Yankees acquired him and installed him at third base in deference to Gleyber Torres. Chisholm played his first 400 career innings at the hot corner in the Bronx. Statcast graded him highly in that sample, though Defensive Runs Saved had him slightly below average. Both metrics have given Chisholm plus grades for his second base work. He has a little more than 1300 career innings at the position, most of which came between 2021-22.
Yankees Designate Enyel De Los Santos For Assignment
The Yankees announced today that infielder Oswald Peraza and right-hander Will Warren have been recalled to the active roster. One spot was opened by infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. landing on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 13, with a left elbow sprain. That injury and Chisholm’s expected IL placement were both previously reported. The other roster spot was opened by right-hander Enyel De Los Santos being designated for assignment. Additionally, the Yanks added that righty Lou Trivino will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset.
It’s a very quick turnaround for De Los Santos, 28, who was just acquired prior to the deadline a couple of weeks ago. The Yankees sent outfielder Brandon Lockridge to the Padres in order to acquire De Los Santos and minor league pitcher Thomas Balboni.
It seems that the buyer’s remorse set in very quickly, as things didn’t go well for De Los Santos after swapping his Padre pinstripes for the Yankee variety. After the trade, he tossed 6 1/3 innings over five appearances, allowing 10 earned runs in that time. He struck out five opponents while walking three of them.
The Yankees were rained out on Friday and played a double-header on Saturday, meaning their five starters have each pitched in the past four days. They needed Warren to come up and make a spot start today, which required a corresponding move. The only member of their bullpen that can be optioned is Jake Cousins, who has a 2.25 ERA on the season. Rather than send Cousins down, they have decided to bump De Los Santos off the 40-man roster not too long after trading for him.
Since the deadline has now passed, the Yankees will have no choice but to put De Los Santos on waivers in the coming days. Although his results have clearly been poor since coming to the Bronx, it seems likely that some other club will look beyond that and put in a claim based on his previous work.
From the start of 2022 and up until the trade, the righty actually posted some strong numbers between the Guardians and Padres. He tossed 159 1/3 innings in that time with a 3.50 ERA, 26.4% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.
Meaningful roster upgrades are difficult to come by at this post-deadline part of the calendar, so a club looking for bullpen reinforcements will probably put in a claim. That might not even need to be a contending club, as De Los Santos is making just $1.16MM this year and can be retained via arbitration for two additional seasons.
Waiver priority goes in reverse order of the standings, so the teams with the worst records will have first dibs. Even a team out of contention might take a shot on De Los Santos given those two extra years of control. But if they all pass, some club in a playoff race could benefit with a fresh arm that has had some success in recent seasons, Yankee tenure notwithstanding.
Cutting bait on De Los Santos will cut into the club’s bullpen depth, but they are about to backfill some of that with Trivino. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and missed all of the 2023 season. He hit free agency and the Yanks re-signed him on a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee and a $5MM club option for 2025, plus bonuses and escalators that kick in at 15 appearances this year.
Prior to this lengthy injury layoff, he put up some strong numbers. Most of that came with the Athletics, though he also came over to the Yankees at the 2022 deadline as part of the Frankie Montas trade. Overall, he has 284 2/3 innings under his belt with a 3.86 ERA. His 10.6% walk rate is a bit high but his 24.5% strikeout rate and 47.4% ground ball rate are both strong.