At the start of the offseason, the New York Yankees declined to make an offer to Gleyber Torres and instead embarked on a long and arduous search for a quality infielder that has left no stone unturned. With seemingly endless possibilities, everyone wondered what GM Brian Cashman had in mind.
The Yankees passed on Torres for two main reasons: poor defense and inconsistency at the plate. So, whoever Cashman prioritizes, he would need to come with a plus glove and a consistent bat. This left a short list of quality suitors. Was it Alex Bregman? No, too expensive. Was it Luis Arraez? No, he is not a good defender. Not long ago, Cashman’s search reached the point where any of his targets might irreparably harm the team’s standing next season.
In following with this trend, the spotlight has fallen on a couple free agents that are less than ideal for a baseball team with World Series aspirations.
A look at Yankees’ free agent targets Enrique Hernandez and Yoan Moncada
The Yankees have shown interest in utility infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez and 2B/3B Yoan Moncada. Hernandez has shown some potential throughout his 11-year career, but his most recent results don’t inspire much confidence. Hernandez slashed a mere .229/.281/.373 with a .654 OPS and 12 home runs through 362 at-bats last season. While 2024 wasn’t one of his better years, his career .238 batting average doesn’t offer much upside. Making him a worse fit would be his power at Yankee Stadium. Baseball Savant estimates his 12 home runs would have been halved if every game he played in were held in the Bronx.
Hernandez is interesting for one reason, that being his postseason heroism. But nothing in his repertoire makes him an improvement over Torres.
Yoan Moncada has some intriguing potential but this potential has been muted by years of injuries and underperformance making him a very risky gamble. Moncada was once the No. 2 prospect in MLB pipeline’s top-100 prospects list. In 2021, we got a glimpse of his potential when he hit .315 with 25 home runs. Unfortunately, it was the only year his average topped .263 or his home run total topped 17. The very next year, Moncada hit for a .225 average. Moncada’s career average now sits at .254. His offensive inconsistency has demonstrated both his low floor and his high ceiling, but we have seen Moncada’s downside more times than his upside .
In Cashman’s eyes, Moncada’s switch-hitting ability is a definite source of interest. Whenever we come across a Yankees’ free agent or trade target who hits from the left side, there’s an automatic pause that follows while we investigate what this player may produce for the Yanks.
But betting on Moncada comes with an obvious associated risk besides his inconsistency at the plate. Moncada has been hampered by injuries for each of the past three years only visiting the plate 45 times in 2024. If Cashman is intent on signing him to put his potential to the test, it would be best to sign him as a backup infielder. If the Yankees should come to depend on Moncada as an everyday player, that would have a sizable chance of backfiring.
