Yankees Might Go After Ex-Royals Slugger On Trade Market To Bolster Infield
An All-Star infielder who spent a brief stint with the Kansas City Royals might factor into the New York Yankees’ trade plans this season.
The Yankees have roster holes on their pitching staff and at third base, but the latter issue might be the more glaring.
On Thursday, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote about what New York could do to fix its third base problem.
“Starting pitching is … a major concern for the Yankees, having already lost Gerrit Cole for the year while both Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt are presently on the IL,” Miller wrote.
“However, the latter two figure to be back by the trade deadline, at which point perhaps one of Will Warren, Marcus Stroman or Carlos Carrasco will have proved himself worthy of keeping a regular spot in the rotation. It looks rough for now, but it might be fine by July.”
“Third base is a different story, where the Yankees have gone with a revolving door of Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes thus far without much success—save for Peraza hitting a pinch-hit HR during that nine-homer, torpedo bat-infused extravaganza during opening weekend.”
“Kind of seems like the plan here was to throw things at the wall for a few months, see if anything sticks and make a trade if nothing does. Potential Solutions: Nolan Arenado, Yandy Díaz, Eugenio Suárez.”
One guy who Miller didn’t mention is Washington Nationals third baseman and former All-Star Paul DeJong, but he would be a more attainable target for the Yankees than Arenado, Díaz, or Suárez.
DeJong signed with Washington in February for one year and $1 million (per Spotrac) after spending 2024 with the Royals (37 games) and Chicago White Sox (102 games).
DeJong slashed .222/.277/.417 with six home runs and 15 RBI for Kansas City and had 24 home runs and 56 RBI on the year in total. He’s hitting just .200/.238/.300 to start 2025 (entering Saturday), but an uptick in his production is sure to arrive sooner than later and with it a collection of suitors on the trade market.
He’s not as hot of a trade target as a player like Arenado, but DeJong will garner interest from multiple teams for a reason. When he’s on, he can inject slug into your lineup, and that’s what the Yankees would love to have at the hot corner.
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Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "Kansas City Royals On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org