After demolishing Milwaukee Brewers pitching for 36 runs in a season-opening three-game sweep, the New York Yankees offense has cooled off considerably over the last three weeks.
While the club still ranks second in Major League Baseball in runs scored, much of that can be attributed to those first three games and the historic start of Aaron Judge, who is hitting an incredible .411 with a 1.231 OPS. Judge, breakout second-year slugger Ben Rice and the red-hot Paul Goldschmidt have formed a productive top of the order, but the rest of the lineup has failed to carry it’s weight. Infielders Anthony Volpe (7-for-49) and Jazz Chisholm (7-for-64) are mired in terrible slumps, catcher Austin Wells and outfielder Jasson Domínguez have produced little besides the occasional home run, and new acquisition Cody Bellinger (.520 OPS) has struggled in his first year in pinstripes. Along with an inconsistent rotation and the struggles of closer Devin Williams, the Yankees have gone just 11-10 since their first series and watched the red-hot Boston Red Sox cut their division lead to just a half-game.
As was the case in the offseason, the clearest position for upgrade for the Yankees is third base. While Oswaldo Cabrera has turned in a solid .281 batting average, he has managed just two extra-base hits in 57 at-bats, and he has a career .647 OPS in four MLB seasons. With the Yankees feeling the pressure to capatilize on Judge’s historic prime, ESPN’s David Schoenfield believes they could make a win-now move for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado.
“The Yankees have only one home run from their third baseman,” wrote Schoenfield. “If the Cardinals pay down some of the contract, they could probably find Arenado a new home.”
Of course, the Cardinals tried hard to deal the 34-year-old Arenado in the off-season, and actually agreed to send him to the Astros before Arenado used his no-trade clause to veto the deal. Though the Yankees are not one of the six team’s on Arenado’s preferred trade list, it seems likely that Arenado would accept a move for a chance to compete for the first World Series appearance of his career. The two sides were unable to link up for a deal this past winter, but Arenado’s hot start (126 OPS+, 13/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio) coupled with the bottom-of-the-order offensive struggles could motivate the Yankees to take on the remaining three years and $52 million of Arenado’s contract.
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