The second baseman hits the free agent market after the Rockies declined to tender him a contract.<\/p>\n
\n
The\u00a0Yankees\u00a0enter the winter without a starting second baseman on the active roster. They declined to make a qualifying offer to Gleyber Torres and while they could move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to his more natural infield position, this would create a different vacancy at third base. While perhaps not the caliber player they should target as a starter, Brendan Rodgers could provide an insurance policy at the position.<\/p>\n
Previous Contract:\u00a0<\/strong>Earned $3.2 million in second of three years of arbitration eligibility. Non-tendered by Rockies \u2014 projected to earn\u00a0$5.5 million\u00a0in third and final year of arbitration eligibility.<\/p>\n
Rodgers is a former third overall pick out of high school in the 2015\u00a0MLB Draft. By 2019, he was the consensus top prospect in the Rockies\u2019 system and rose to a top-ten prospect in all of baseball according to several publications. He drew comparisons to Carlos Correa for his ability to drive the ball as he rocketed up the minor league ladder.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, he has failed to deliver on his prospect pedigree in the big leagues. He was handed his MLB debut in 2019, but that season was cut short by a torn labrum in his right shoulder and he has never been the same hitter since. The injury lingered into 2020, and by the time he was fully healthy in 2021, the all-fields power had dried up considerably. He suffered a serious injury to his left shoulder in 2023 and has played at least 135 games just twice in six big league seasons.<\/p>\n
Rodgers has never posted a campaign that is league average or better at the plate, his best effort a 98 wRC+ in 102 games in 2021. Since his debut in 2019, here is where he ranks with the bat among 63 qualified second baseman:<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n
Things don\u2019t get any better when you look at his defense and baserunning. Outside of one decent fielding season in 2022 when he was worth +22 defensive runs saved and +3 Outs Above Average, he\u2019s been a below-average defender at second. Here is where he has ranked in several defensive and baserunning metrics among the 73 second baseman who have logged at least 1000 innings at the keystone since his debut:<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n
So basically, we have a second baseman who can\u2019t really hit, definitely can\u2019t run, and is not that much of an upgrade over Torres with the glove. At that rate, the Yankees are probably better served giving one of their youngsters \u2014 most notably Caleb Durbin \u2014 a chance to win the starting second base job. Rodgers\u2019 bat probably comes with a bit more certainty given Durbin has only played 82 games above Double-A. However, the glovework is probably a wash and Durbin just earned AFL Breakout Player of the Year by setting the single-season record with 29 stolen bases in 24 games.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t all doom and gloom with Rodgers. At 28 years old there are still some prime years ahead of him and there may yet be hidden upside in bat. He has ranked in the top third of the league in max exit velocity every year he\u2019s been a big leaguer and in the top 30 percent of the league in hard-hit rate each of the last three seasons. However, his average launch angle has not exceeded five degrees for the last three years, and he finished with the highest groundball rate (56.1-percent) among qualified hitters in 2024. If he could generate some lift in his swing, many of those groundball outs could reach the outfield grass for hits.<\/p>\n
This all shouldn\u2019t preclude the Yankees from at least checking in on the newly-available second baseman. At the very least, Rodgers could provide a younger bench bat replacement for Jon Berti. However, with a projected arbitration number of $5.5 million, he would have to take a sizable discount to make financial sense given the Yankees just declined to pay around $3.8 million to keep Berti around as their infield utilityman. Even then, with far worse speed and a similar offensive, defensive, and injury profile to Berti, the Yankees can do better when parsing the second base and utility markets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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