What to do with third base and the closer role?

The Yankees have leaned back most of the time during the off season. After the Beantowners signed Kung Fu Panda to a five year contract, Chase Headley is hot all of a sudden. The Giants are targeting him as well.

I wonder why the Yankees should chase Headley (sorry for the pun). They still have Martin Prado on their roster. Prado hit a respectable .282 in 143 games (536 at bats). Prado has a fielding percentage of .955 at third base, while Headly sported a .956 fielding percentage at the same position. So when it comes to defense both are equal. at bat I’d prefer Prado. Headley hit a lot worse during the 2014 campaign: .243. Prado did slightly better when it comes to driving in runs: 58 against 49 for Headley.

Keep your money in your pocket Yankees to get some good pitching. I am still not overly excited about last year’s rotation. CC isn’t what he used to be since he cannot rely on his fastball and we’re stuck with him for another three years for a total of $73 million. Maybe we should ship him in exchange for some talented young players. Sure he ended up on the DL, but the last few seasons he didn’t live up to his contract anyway.

Nova showed flashes of brilliance throughout his career but he has been shaky at times as well. Same for Pineda. IMO the kid has some ace potential, but then he must get more stable and stay away from the pine tar. I am a bit worried about Tanaka. Will this elbow injury be healed? Time will tell. I thnk that getting another good arm will be a good insurance for this questionable rotation.

But to get back to the position of third base; If really necessary we can still put A-Roid at third. I rather see the Yankees release him,but I think we are stuck with him for the remaining seasons of his contract. How about shortstop? It is his natural position. I still think he has the skills to play at short.

When it comes to the closer role, there is a rumour swirling around that David Robertson is holding a three year offer worth $39 million. Even though the Yankees want him back in 2015, they don’t want to give him four years. So what are the options then? Moving Dellin Betances to the closer role? He wouldn’t be the first Yankee set up man to become a closer. Or chasing Andrew Miller? Miller hasn’t been a closer during his career either, so maybe we should get him to fill in the setup role when Betances will be our closer.

This is the fun part of the off-season. All the rumours and advices that fans are giving. I don’t think that the Yankee brass will listen anyway. 😉