The Yankees were prepared to have a battle for two bench spots on their Opening Day roster when spring training started, and Oswald Peraza was arguably on the inside track for one of them.
The slick-fielding infielder has major league experience over the last two seasons and is still considered one of the Yankees’ top young prospects. However, Peraza’s ailing shoulder will sideline him for 6-8 weeks, causing him to miss the start of the regular season.
So, where should the Yankees turn to fill the roster spot that could have gone to Peraza?
Here are three routes the Yankees can go down as spring training continues…
Scour the waiver wire
As teams get closer to Opening Day, they can place players — especially veterans without any minor league options — on waivers to make room on the roster and save some money.
J.D. Davis was placed on waivers by the Giants recently and as of the time of this writing, has not been claimed.
Davis can play both third and first base to cover the corners while providing a bat that’s currently better than any other options the Yankees have in camp. The downside is the $6.9 million owed to him.
The Yankees are already in the top tax tier of their payroll so that money will be more than $10 million for a bench player. But for an all-in team, they’ll need all the help they can get.
Davis hit .248/.325/.413 while hitting 18 home runs and driving in 69 runs in pitcher-friendly San Francisco.
They could wait for other players to be placed on waivers. Right now, it’s a wait-and-see approach as to who becomes available, but fans should watch the wire as much as the Yankees are.
Hope to sign someone in free agency
The Yankees have already tried grabbing bench depth via free agency this offseason with their pursuits of Kiké Hernandez and Amed Rosario.
Of course, both players wanted more playing time than the Yankees were willing to commit to them so they signed elsewhere. That will be the Yankees’ problem in the free agency market still but perhaps that changes as we get closer and closer to Opening Day.
There are veteran infielders out there including Donovan Solano, Yuli Gurriel, Jonathan Schoop, Evan Longoria and Jean Segura waiting to be signed.
First basemen like Solano and Gurriel may not be the infielders the Yankees are looking for since Anthony Rizzo will project to play most of the games at first this season, so they’ll likely look for a natural shortstop to back up Anthony Volpe or someone who can play multiple positions.
This route also plays off the waiver wire as well. Players who clear waivers can be outright released and then the Yankees could negotiate their 2024 salary in free agency. But, again, with limited at-bats guaranteed it may be hard to land a viable backup.
If the Yankees decide to take a flyer on any of these non-shortstop free agents, they’ll most definitely have to bring on one player already on their roster into Opening Day.
The Oswaldo Cabrera route
Cabrera burst onto the scene in 2022 with his energy and ability to play both the infield and outfield. However, as his time in the big leagues increased, his bat has regressed in the majors.
Last season, Cabrera slashed .211/.275/.574 while slugging just .611. The Yankees gave Cabrera a chance in 2023 when the injuries around the infield piled up and the Venezuelan native could not step up.
If the Yankees are pressed for viable players, they can go with Cabrera who plays solid defense to be the Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the bench, and has some major league experience at shortstop — he had five starts at short in 2023.
But if the Yankees decide to go with Cabrera, they’ll need to bring someone from the current crop of invited players. There are veteran infielders like Josh VanMeter and Kevin Smith. VanMeter, however, has never played shortstop while Smith has 31 starts in the majors at short.
They can also go with a newcomer like Jorbit Vivas and see if he can sink or swim in the big leagues.
Of course, this scenario is probably the least desirable for a win-now Yankees team but they may not have a choice.
We’re less than three weeks from Opening Day, so the Yankees still have some time to figure out their bench but it won’t be easy.
