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Tampa, Fla – Spring Training has begun for the defending AL champs. While the Yankees had a fantastic offseason, signing LHP Max Fried, LHRP Tim Hill and 1B Paul Goldschmidt and acquiring RHRP Devin Williams, 1B/OF Cody Bellinger and RHRP Fernando Cruz. Even with all those additions, there still leaves a gaping hole at 3rd base.
The Yankees have shoved down our throats for about a month now that DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Orbit Vivas, and Oswaldo Cabrera would be competing for the 3rd base position in spring training. After the Boston Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to a 3-Year, the AL East got a lot tighter.
Now, while I don’t want the Yankees rushing into a panic move like they have done in the past, but they need to respond. I’ll be honest, I did not want Alex Bregman on the Yankees because of the park factors, but Bregman’s career numbers in Fenway Park should rase alarms for Yankees fans.
Since the second that the signing came out, rumors have already begun that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to “ramp up” trade talks around Nolan Arenado with the Yankees.
Look, as of right now, the only player that we know that is available and would be a true improvement over the in house players is Arenado. I tweeted out about a month ago a comparison of Nolan Arenado’s 2024 numbers and Gleyber Torres’ 2024 numbers, and well:
These numbers are so similar, but Arenado’s numbers are better. We all know that Jazz Chisholm Jr. should be able to give consistent and strong production out of 2nd base, and Goldschmidt should be able to give more production out of first base then Anthony Rizzo did in 2024.
If the Yankees were to make the trade for Nolan Arenado, you could then argue that the Yankees are definitively the best team in the American League, though Boston will give them a run for their money.
