The Yankees are identified to be on the lookout for infield assist and Bob Nightengale of USA Immediately relays that they’ve had discussions with free agent Brendan Rodgers, although it’s unclear when these talks happened or how critical they have been.
Rodgers, 28, got here up with an enormous quantity of prospect hype however he hasn’t been capable of ship on it up to now. The Rockies chosen him with the third general decide within the 2015 draft and he was the membership’s high prospect for some time after that. Baseball America ranked him first within the system and within the high 25 prospects league-wide from 2017 to 2020.
In 2021 and 2022, Rodgers gave the impression to be cementing himself as a succesful main leaguer, although one thing under a star. Over these two seasons, he put up a stable slash of .274/.326/.434, although that solely amounted to a 95 wRC+, with that measure accounting for the hitter-friendly nature of Coors Discipline. Regardless of the subpar offense, Rodgers obtained robust marks for his second base protection, main FanGraphs to credit score him with a mixed 3.1 wins above alternative over these two years.
Baseball Reference was much more bullish, giving Rodgers 4.3 WAR in 2022 alone. That discrepancy is because of BR utilizing Defensive Runs Saved for its WAR, whereas FanGraphs makes use of a mixture of Statcast and Final Zone Score. Rodgers had 3 OAA in 2022 however a large 22 DRS, which is why the WAR tallies are so lopsided. However his DRS grade has been detrimental over the remainder of his profession, so that appears like a transparent outlier.
No matter how Rodgers was evaluated at the moment, he hasn’t been at that degree since. He suffered a dislocated shoulder throughout spring coaching in 2023 and required surgical procedure. He obtained into 46 video games late that yr however didn’t carry out effectively, slashing .258/.313/.388 for a 78 wRC+. In 2024, he improved however not by a lot, producing a .267/.314/.407 line and 88 wRC+.
If one wished to discover a purpose for optimism, they might look to Rodgers enhancing because the season went alongside. He hit .262/.306/.383 for a wRC+ of 79 within the first half after which .275/.325/.441 within the second half for a 100 wRC+, although that latter line was largely buoyed by an enormous August, as he had poor leads to July and September.
Each in 2024 and in his profession, the righty-swinging Rodgers has been higher towards lefties. He slashed .311/.364/.455 towards southpaws final yr for a 117 wRC, not far off from his profession line of .298/.359/.484 and 120 wRC+ in that break up. That would maybe permit him to kind a platoon with Jazz Chisholm Jr., who swings from the left aspect and has a line of .224/.281/.364 towards southpaws in his profession for a 76 wRC+.
The Rockies might have retained Rodgers for 2025, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a wage of $5.5MM, however the Rockies opted to non-tender him as an alternative. That signifies that Rodgers shall be low cost, which is definitely enticing to the Yankees. They got here into the offseason with a lot of large contracts already on the books and have since swelled their commitments by including Max Fried, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt.
RosterResource places the Yankees’ aggressive stability tax quantity at $303MM, which is already above the fourth and last tier of $301MM. As a third-time payor, the Yanks shall be taxed at a 110% fee on any additional spending. They’re reportedly buying Marcus Stroman, which might decrease their commitments, however they’d nonetheless have one of many high payrolls within the league.
The truth that Chisholm can play both second or third base offers the Yanks some flexibility in how they add to their infield within the coming weeks however the high choices on the sizzling nook shall be costly. Alex Bregman is accessible in free company however is on the lookout for a giant nine-figure deal of some sort. Nolan Arenado is accessible in commerce however the Playing cards are reportedly trying to eliminate most of what stays of his contract.
Rodgers is much less thrilling than these guys however shall be far cheaper and appears able to a minimum of being a short-side platoon man. He’s additionally nonetheless younger and a former high prospect, so there could possibly be some chance of a late-bloomer breakout.
