New York Yankees Seek Breakout Star Among Third Base Candidates

The New York Yankees will have some options at third base if Jazz Chisholm ends up moving back to his natural position.

Oct 9, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees third base Oswaldo Cabrera (95) flips to first base during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals in game three of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

It has been a very busy offseason for the New York Yankees, who will be getting ready for the start of spring training in a couple of weeks.

As the start of the regular season approaches, the Yankees have done a really good job of pivoting after missing out on bringing back Juan Soto. Just in their lineup, they added Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt. However, the real upgrades came in their starting rotation and bullpen with the additions of Max Fried and Devin Williams.

Overall, New York is in good shape even with a talent like Soto going to the New York Mets.

While things are looking good for the Yankees to once again be successful in 2025, they do have one area that has been talked about a lot.

Currently, there does feel to be a need for an upgrade at either second base or third base. Jazz Chisholm was a nice addition to New York at the trade deadline last summer, and he proved that he could play third base as well as his natural position of second base.

Assuming the Yankees move him back to his natural position, third base will be an area that they might look to upgrade.

However, options are starting to dwindle in free agency.

Even though another significant splash would be nice, New York does have some options at the position that they can take the wait and see approach. Currently, three players who are already on the team that can play the position are DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza.

Of those three options, LeMahieu is the one with the most career success, but injuries have derailed him the last couple of years. In 2024, he only played in 67 games and hit just .204.

At his age, it’s hard to imagine him being anything more than a bench player at this point who can fill in at times as a starter.

Compared to the veteran option in-house, both Peraza and Cabrera are young players at just 24 and 25 years old, respectively. Between the two, Cabrera would likely have the edge based on his 2024 campaign, and ability to produce on offense.

Last year, Cabrera totaled a .247 batting average, eight home runs, and 36 RBIs, in 109 games played. However, with an OPS of just .661, he’s not an ideal long-term fit if that number doesn’t improve.

While upgrading at third base makes a lot of sense, the Yankees can afford to be patient and not rush at this point in the winter. As the season progresses, players will surely become available if they need to make a move.

Even though the in-house options aren’t ideal, they can survive for the time being.