The New York Yankees Bench Conundrum

Sep 28, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; New York Yankees shortstop

(26) gets a single during the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Going into next season, the New York Yankees are going to have one of the oldest left sides of the infield ever with Derek Jeter (39 and turning 40 during the season) and Alex Rodriguez (38 turning 39 during the season with that whole pending suspension thing). Those two are going to need a lot of time at DH, not to mention a 38 year old left fielder in Alfonso Soriano. The backups for Jeter and A-Rod are going to be quite important in 2013.

The Yankees have Eduardo Nunez already, Jayson Nix is arbitration eligible and Brendan Ryan is a free agent. It would be hard to keep two of the three on the bench, considering that there will be 12 pitchers on the roster like there always is now. So who should they pick.

Ryan is the best fielder of the group, as the Yankees and their fans saw once he came over in the September trade from the Mariners. Ryan hasn’t played a position other than shortstop since 2009. He only hit .220 in his short stint with the team, however, he looked better with the bat that he did with the Mariners and Kevin Long thinks he can work with him well over a full season.

Nunez is the best hitter of the three. Nuni hit only .260 throughout his injury plagued season, however, he hit .286 in August and .295 in September. He’s the worst defensively of the three, however he’s got a ton of speed, something the Yankees don’t have a ton of right now and he’s just 26 years old.

Nix is your prototypical utility infielder. He’s gonna be pretty good defensively at all the infield spots and is ok with the bat. Nix only hit .236, but seemed to be coming around before his season was ended on a R.A. Dickey knuckleball.

So who should the Yankees choose? Let’s say they re-sign Mark Reynolds or bring back Eric Chavez as the backup on the corners, who do you choose then? I think they non-tender Nix and I believe Nunez will be the guy and should be. He seemed to turn the corner once he came back from injury and I think he’s earned on more shot.