New York Yankees infielder Oswaldo Cabrera suffered a left ankle fracture in Monday night’s devastating slide at home plate, the team announced Tuesday as they moved him to the 10-day injured list.
The injury occurred in the ninth inning as the 26-year-old’s leg buckled when he dove for home in an eventual 11-5 Yankees win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
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Cabrera, tagging up on an Aaron Judge flyout to left field, succeeded in avoiding the tag from Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, but twisted his ankle in the process. As he fell to the ground in pain, Cabrera slapped home to score the run and lay on the plate in pain while trainers tended to him.
Medical personnel later loaded Cabrera onto a stretcher and transported him via ambulance to Harborview Medical Center, about a mile away from the ballpark.
In a corresponding IL move Tuesday, the team reinstated infielder DJ LeMahieu following his rehab assignment.
How Cabrera’s injury impacts New York
The Yankees need a new third baseman, though he could be in-house.
They will likely fill the position with Oswald Peraza for now. LeMahieu is back, but he’ll probably play second base until Jazz Chisholm Jr. (oblique strain) returns from the injured list in several weeks.
There are multiple problems.
The Yankees aren’t sure the 36-year-old, oft-injured LeMahieu is ready to be an everyday player again. They don’t know if he can handle the everyday workload without breaking down. They don’t know if he can still hit or defend enough to warrant everyday at-bats.
And Peraza shouldn’t be the solution at third base. He’s a strong defender, but the Yankees have shown no confidence in his ability to hit in the majors, despite showing pop in the minors. Jorbit Vivas isn’t as good defensively at third base as he is at second base, where he’ll likely at least platoon with LeMahieu for a while.
New York has no other realistic options in the minor leagues. The organization promoted 19-year-old top prospect George Lombard Jr. to Double-A Somerset last week, but it would be asking too much to expect him to perform in the majors right now, despite all the praise he’s drawn inside and outside the organization.
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The Yankees could also ask Chisholm to return to third base, a position he played well last year, and hope that they can make things work at second base between LeMahieu, Peraza and Vivas. That might be the easiest fix. Chisholm, however, didn’t play the position at all in spring training and has played exclusively second base this season. Chisholm has been a strong defender at second base this season, too.
The Yankees should look for a trade. With the deadline still two months away, teams will sense New York’s desperation.
The club could try to patch together the next few weeks with LeMahieu, Peraza and Vivas between second base and third base until Chisholm returns, but it would be a task fraught with risk. — Brendan Kuty, Yankees beat writer
Potential trade candidates
It still feels unlikely that the Yankees would trade for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, considering they had little interest in him in the offseason, and since it’s not out of the question that Lombard could be the Yankees’ starting third baseman as early as next season. It would be difficult to see the Yankees jamming up third base the next two years with Arenado. Plus, the Cardinals are 23-19, a game back in the National League Central.
And don’t expect the Boston Red Sox to look to unload Rafael Devers to their rivals.
Willi Castro of the Minnesota Twins could make sense. He was on the IL with a right oblique strain from late April until the beginning of May. He’s played a lot of second base since his return, but he could handle third base. He’s making $6.4 million this season and hitting .221 with a homer, five RBIs and a .613 OPS.
Would the Yankees be interested in Nico Hoerner of the Cubs? He’s due $23.5 million between this season and next year, however. Adding Hoerner (career .715 OPS) would also require moving Chisholm to third base. Hoerner has hit .280 with no homers and a .663 OPS this season.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ Yandy Díaz (career .800 OPS) will be a free agent after this season. He’s being paid $12 million this year as part of a team option, and he’s hit just .238 with six homers and a .691 OPS this season. — Kuty
(Photo: Steven Bisig / Imagn Images)
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