The New York Yankees Should Sign Veteran David Freese
I may be one of the few New York Yankees fans who believes it would be foolish to rely on either Starlin Castro or Rob Refsnyder to back up Chase Headley at third, but for that reason I believe Brian Cashman should look into signing MLB veteran David Freese.
Starlin Castro has certainly made his fair share of errors (146) over the years, and because of that he was moved from shortstop to second base in Chicago in favor of Addison Russell, who is a world-class talent at short. In 38 games at second base, 29 of which he started, Castro committed a total of six errors. On top of that, his career -13.4 UZR is the fourth worst of any shortstop in the major leagues since 2010 and his career -28.4 ErrR is by far the worst mark of any major league short stop since his debut.
Sure Castro more than makes up for his defensive woes with his bat, but to ask guy with those defensive metrics to back up at third base is ludicrous.
Similar to Castro, Yankees prospect Rob Refsnyder has an above-average bat, but his defense is even more putrid. In just 15 major league games at second base, 12 of which he started, Castro has recorded a -1.6 UZR, which project a -15.5 UZR/150.
Refsnyder was drafted as a left-fielder out of the University of Arizona and the Yankees have steadily tried to convert him into a major league second baseman, but you can’t cloud the fact that Refsnyders has committed 56 errors over the span of three minor league seasons.
Again, asking a guy like Refsnyder to man the hot-corner is a disaster in-and-of-itself.
There’s a reason why the Yankees tried to sign Juan Uribe to a minor league deal, but of course the veteran opted to sign a big league contract with the Cleveland Indians instead.
Fortunately not all hope is lost.
Another option for the Yankees is veteran third baseman David Freese, who surprisingly still remains unsigned.
Freese, 32, is just one year older than Chase Headley and last played for the Los Angeles Angels for the past two seasons. While Freese had hoped for an extension in L.A., the Angels never presented him with a new deal when both sides were discussing a potential reunion earlier this writer, reports Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
Instead, the former Yankees front office executive and newly appointed Angels General Manager Billy Eppler elected to pursue Yunel Escobar in a trade with the Washington Nationals to take care of third base in 2016.
While Chase Headley logged 406.8 more innings than Freese in 2015, Freese’s 0.3 UZR and 1.8 Def indicate that he’s slightly better defensively than Chase Headley. Also, Freese’s 2.4 ErrR ranked significantly higher than Headley’s -2.8, which was actually second worst in the american league
Another added bonus to signing David Freese is that he can also spell Mark Teixeira at first base if Dustin Ackley or any other bench player isn’t getting the job done. In 18 games at first base, 17 of which he started, Freese has committed 0 errors while recording a 1.000 % fielding percentage.
Also, both Freese and Headley’s offensive numbers in 2015 couldn’t be more identical. In 121 games, Freese slashed .257/.323/.420 with a .743 OPS, 14 homers and 56 RBI. In 156 games, Headley slashed .259/.324/.369 with a .693 OPS, 11 homers and 62 RBI.
Over the course of his seven-year career, David Freese has slashed a combined .276/.344/.417 with a .761 OPS.
It’s only a matter of time before Freese signs with a major league club, and though the Yankees haven’t signed a single player this winter to a professional contract, they absolutely should do so when it comes to David Freese.
What do you think Yankee fans? Should the Yankees sign David Freese? Let us know in the comments below.