New York Yankees Must Bring Back Mark Reynolds

Sep 12, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees first baseman

(39) hits a two-run home run in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This was Mark Reynolds 200th career home run. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

The backup corner infield pool is getting quite shallow. Eric Chavez is back with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kevin Youkilis went off to Japan to join Rakuten (can we get Masahiro Tanaka in return? just saying). Michael Young may or may not be heading off to Milwaukee.  You may noticed I haven’t mentioned a certain player. Someone who was with the New York Yankees last season. That guy is Mark Reynolds and the Yankees need to bring him back.

Reynolds did a pretty solid job for the Yankees in 2013 after being cut by the Cleveland Indians in August. Reynolds is never going to be a high average guy, but he has pop in his bat. 12 of his 26 hits for the Yankees were for extra bases. Does he strike out a ton? Absolutely. But he’s not going to kill you defensively either.

Let’s say Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the entire season. A Kelly Johnson/ Reynolds platoon won’t be too terrible at third. However, let’s say A-Rod isn’t suspended, but Mark Teixeira can’t quite come back from his injury last season and misses a little bit of time. Reynolds can easily step in and play first for the Yankees, like he’s done in years past with Baltimore.

The corner infield market is pretty dry. Unless Yuniesky Betancourt, Wilson Betemit, Jeff Baker and Ty Wigginton excite you (along with Young) Reynolds is the best option for the Yankees this season. The Yankees have a logjam of middle infielders, but not a lot of depth at the corners. Reynolds needs to be brought back to provide depth and now.