The Yankees are searching for offense, and they are doing it in a market that is not exactly handing out easy answers. With Aaron Judge out, and Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger also missing, run production has turned into a grind. That makes the trade deadline hunt even tougher, because the list of available bats is thin and the competition is fierce.
One name that keeps surfacing is Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams. On paper, he is not a natural Yankees target.
He would be costly, for one thing. Abrams is 25, has two more years of team control after this season, and plays a premium position, which means any team that wants him will have to pay up.
The fit gets even messier when you look at the glove. Abrams has been rough at shortstop, sitting last among qualifiers in outs above average at -13 and second-to-last in fielding run value at -9.
He has also committed 16 errors, the second-most at the position. Add in his track record as a poor second-half hitter, and the case against him gets pretty strong.
Still, there is a twist here. Jeff Passan reported that plenty of teams are looking at Abrams not as a shortstop, but as a center fielder. That opens the door to a very different kind of conversation.
Abrams has the speed for it. His average sprint speed is 28.5 feet per second, which puts him in the 83rd percentile.
He would not be the first shortstop to make that kind of move, either. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Oneil Cruz are both examples of players who shifted into the outfield.
Cruz has struggled defensively, while Tatis Jr. owns two Platinum Gloves.
A midseason position change is never the cleanest solution, but the Yankees have already shown they can make that kind of adjustment work. They did it with Jazz Chisholm Jr., moving him from second base to third base on the fly and still making a World Series run.
The bat is what really changes the conversation, though. Abrams’ second-half history has been a concern, but that storyline is being rewritten this season.
It is a small sample, just 53 plate appearances, yet he has been blistering hot, hitting .377/.431/.849 with seven home runs. The Yankees, by comparison, had just 11 homers as a team after the All-Star break entering action on July 31.
That kind of production is hard to ignore. Post-All-Star break, Abrams leads MLB in OPS at 1.632, home runs with seven, and RBIs with 15. He has more second-half homers by himself than the Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners, Twins, White Sox, Cardinals and Angels.
So while Abrams is an awkward fit in the traditional sense, there is a path here. The Yankees could try him in left field or center field and use his bat to help cover for the offense they have lost with Judge and Bellinger sidelined.
Once those two return, Abrams could push Trent Grisham to the bench. Another possibility is that Grisham gets dealt, with Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez staying in the organization.
He is a left-handed hitter, and the position switch would not be ideal. But the Yankees need impact offense, and Abrams is one of the few players who can plausibly bring it. With a little creativity, the fit starts to make sense.
In Other News...
Yankees Deadline Push Now Hinges On One Catching Upgrade
The Yankees have made it clear they are not treating the trade deadline as a spot to stand pat. With the front office looking to add a reliever and a right-handed hitter, the search has narrowed to a catching upgrade that fits the roster better from the right side, a need that has drawn attention across the market and put several names into the conversation.
Among the catchers being discussed are Tyler Stephenson, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Jeffers, and the Yankees are being viewed as aggressive in trying to land the kind of piece that would deepen the lineup and stabilize the position. There are multiple teams involved in the market, which only adds to the challenge, and the pressure now is less about whether New York will do something and more about which path it can actually turn into a deal. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Have A Trade Answer For Their Injury Hit Lineup
Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger have left the Yankees trying to patch together an offense that suddenly looks thinner than it did just a few weeks ago. With the market offering limited help at catcher and infield, New York has been forced to keep an eye on the outfield as well, where the names that could actually move begin to look more interesting than plentiful.
One of the more intriguing possibilities is Seattles Randy Arozarena, whose bat would fit a club looking for immediate production. The Mariners place in the standings makes them a team worth watching as the deadline approaches, and Arozarenas strong offensive season gives him the kind of profile that can draw real attention if Seattle decides to engage on trade talks. [Read more 🡒]