There was no way to look at the Yankees‘ third base situation as anything other than a disaster, as Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas has continued the trend of untenable offense at the bottom of the order.
DJ LeMahieu was supposed to present the solution; a decent-enough bat at the bottom of the lineup who can pass the baton, but his range at second base was limited and Jazz Chisholm looked ugly at third base.
The duo of Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas combined for a 33 wRC+, -0.8 WAR, combining for +1 Outs Above Average which is well below the replacement level.
Brian Cashman finally addressed the position, bringing in Ryan McMahon alongside Amed Rosario who are both solid players who profile towards the bottom of an offense
That’s fine for the Yankees though; they improved significantly at the hot corner, and now they can put their full focus on addressing a poor pitching staff.
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Amed Rosario is a versatile defender but not a great one, the Yankees know that he won’t be helping their run prevention issues and therefore he’s a short-side platoon bat who will play infrequently.
The Yankees have had issues signing Rosario because other teams with lesser aspirations have been able to offer him everyday playing time, as reported when the Rays signed him last winter.
With a career .799 OPS and 120 wRC+ vs LHP, Rosario is a consistently excellent bat against southpaws, and the Yankees know he can be a pesky out in those situations.
Deepening the bottom of the Yankee lineup vs LHP checks off a nice box for the Yankees, and he can come off the bench to pinch-hit if needed as well.
Ryan McMahon is a worse hitter than Rosario, but he’s the elite third base defender that the team wants to have on the roster to ensure they can prevent runs when needed.
Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario have a combined 1.7 fWAR, 94 wRC+ and .724 OPS, a massive improvement over the 33 wRC+ and .469 OPS that Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas have combined for.
If you extrapolate their combined WAR value to match the plate appearances of the McMahon-Rosario duo, the Peraza-Vivas platoon was pacing for a -1.9 fWAR.
Entering this pivotal week, Brian Cashman has put his entire focus on the Yankees’ pitching issues, and they’ll be aggressive in their pursuit of upgrades.
The Yankees have kept their treasure chests of coveted pitching prospects intact, a part of their strategy when addressing third base since they knew a pair of solid infielders would keep the offense humming.
Where they cannot afford to cheap out is with their pitching staff, as their bullpen is a gross mess and their rotation could use another starter.
New York is watching their playoff odds plummet; they hold just a two game advantage for a playoff spot, and this bullpen has zero chance of winning a baseball game.
Every day that passes without a reliever upgrade is another day that the Yankees will most likely lose that game, there are multiple lost causes in that group and the front office is aware of this.
Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and David Bednar are among the elite relievers whom New York is shopping for at the deadline, and they need support fast.
The expectation is that the Yankees will add pitching in all forms, both starters and relievers, and they have the arms to entice sellers.
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, Ben Hess, Bryce Cunningham, and Carlos Lagrange will draw serious interest at the deadline, as will Cam Schlittler whom NYY would have to be seriously enticed in order to move.
I cannot reiterate just how atrocious this bullpen is; they have the worst fWAR in baseball (-0.8) since June, and that won’t be turning around without additions.
On the Fireside Yankees’ podcast I’ve said this and on Twitter I’ve said this; the 26 players who walked into Toronto and embarrassed themselves needs to be seriously reduced.
Not one, not two, not three, but over five of the players who were active in that series cannot be on the active roster on August 1st.
The Yankees are a better team now than they were before this week because their third base room is solid instead of historically awful, and they need to start seriously investing prospect capital into elite pitching.
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