Yankees: Does free agent Eduardo Nunez make sense?

The Yankees have reportedly shown interest among other teams in former Red Sox utility player, Eduardo Nunez. Should they make the move and sign this old homegrown talent?

In Nunez’s tenure with the Yankees, he performed mediocre at best, underperforming in each of his four seasons in the majors.

At the plate, he slashed .267/.313/.369 with 10 home runs, 76 RBI and an OPS+ of 88. Coming up from the minors, he was the Yanks’ No. 8 prospect and was rated best infield arm and best defensive infielder on the farm.

However, Nunez proved to be a liability with his glove, as he consistently posted a negative UZR at both shortstop and third base.

In his final season in pinstripes, Nunez accumulated a -20.6 UZR at shortstop with -28 Defensive Runs Saved and 12 errors. Needless to say, he had not panned out the way the Yankees had hoped.

Fast forward to the past couple of seasons, where Nunez has bounced from the Twins to the Giants, and ended last season with the Red Sox. He had shown significant improvement at the plate, especially when he was traded to Boston, but still struggles in the field.

Nuni has hit over .280 and in each of the last three seasons, with ’17 being over .300. He has finished with an OPS+ of over 100 during that stretch as well. The power numbers have increased, as he slugged double-digit home runs in each of the past two seasons.

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Nunez has become more versatile in the field by taking on more innings in the outfield. That position seems to yield the most success, as he now posts positive UZR’s. In the infield, Nunez still finishes with negative UZR’s, but nothing close to what it was in New York.

Given all of this, Nunez is not a plausible option for the Yanks to pursue. Although he has been provided much better quality over the past few seasons, the Yankees already possess someone similar to Nunez.

Miguel Andujar, who is also known for having an impressive bat and a below average glove, reminds me a lot of Nunez. The only thing is, Andujar has much more potential. I would rather give him a chance than waste money on someone who already shows the same attributes. If the Yankees are going to sign a third baseman, at least find someone with a better glove.

Additionally, the Yanks do not need another player fighting to be just a stopgap solution. Jace Pederson, Danny Espinosa, Tyler Wade and Ronald Torreyes are already in that battle, and there is no way that Nunez would find a spot in the outfield.

Sure, he would be a viable bench player, especially at the plate, but Yankees are not lacking offensive prowess.

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Maybe if the Yanks did not have someone like Andujar coming up through the farm system, then they could investigate Nunez, but I do not see any reason to at the moment.

The front office must have faith, given the lack of effort to re-sign Todd Frazier. Nunez may seem enticing, but he is not the right fit.