Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Reportedly Talking to These Veteran First Basemen

The New York Yankees have turned their attention toward four free agent first basemen while trade talks have reached a stalemate.

Grant Young

Feb 28, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; A detail view of New York Yankees baseball hat at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images
Feb 28, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; A detail view of New York Yankees baseball hat at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images / Kim Klement-Imagn Images
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There's a lot of intrigue about how the New York Yankees will elect to improve their infield for the 2025 season.

The assumption is that New York is content to move on from Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo, which means that two of their four infield positions from last season have become available.

One question that needs answering is whether the Yankees will elect to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base (which is his natural position) or keep him at third, which is where he played for New York after getting traded to the Bronx.

Regardless of where Chisholm ends up, the Yankees will still have a hole at first base.

It's no secret that they've been pursuing a trade for Chicago Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger in recent days, and would likely put him at first base if the trade went through.

However, a December 17 X post from USA Today's Bob Nightengale suggests that the Yankees may be switching gears.

"While the New York Yankees are at a stalemate with the Chicago Cubs for OF/1B Cody Bellinger, they have turned their attention to the first-base market.
They are engaged in talks with 4 free-agent first basemen: Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt," Nightengale wrote.

It's no surprise that the Yankees are showing interest in these four first basemen, as they've been linked to Alonso, Walker, and Goldschmidt multiple times over the past few months.

While this doesn't necessarily mean the Yankees are giving up on the Bellinger deal, it shows that they aren't dead-set on making him the first baseman of their future.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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