The New York Yankees are off to a good start in a hopeful return to the World Series.
The team has posted an 8-6 record that’s strong enough for first place in the American League East division so far, with positive debuts from offseason acquisitions like Paul Goldschmidt and Max Fried.
But in addition to a slew of injuries that have decimated the starting rotation, the team faces a significant question in the infield that could derail their postseason hopes.
Oswaldo Cabrera has started nine of the Yankees’ first games at third base, with nine hits and nine strikeouts thus far. Following Saturday’s game against the San Francisco Giants in which Cabrera went one for four with two strikeouts, one of the best infielders in baseball revealed that he had almost joined the Yankees this past winter.
“I knew it was a possibility for me to play here,” Giants shortstop Willy Adames said of the Yankees, according to the New York Post. “We had a conversation and it was amazing.”
Adames was one of the most intriguing free agents on the market after slugging 32 home runs in his 2024 campaign with the Milwaukee Brewers. Ultimately, he signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with the Giants that might have been out of the Yankees’ price range.
But it’s difficult not to imagine what could have been for a Yankees team with another premier infielder on the roster.
The Yankees have their franchise shortstop in Anthony Volpe, but adding Adames would have given them another option at second base and allowed Jazz Chisholm Jr. to stick at third, which he took over when he joined the team in 2024. That could have kept Cabrera in a utility role and possibly given the Yankees some more production at the plate.
Depending on how the infield shakes out over the course of this season, the Yankees might regret allowing Adames to take a deal with the Giants.
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