Yankees: Brandon Drury is way more than a stopgap to Manny Machado

Once in a generation players, like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are just that. But with their value comes mega-contracts. The type the Yankees may not need to take on in 2019.

Before anyone gets there feathers in a ruffle, I’m not saying the newly acquired Brandon Drury is the same type of talent as Manny Machado. The purpose of this article is to prove to the masses that before we automatically label a 25-year-old with upside anything more than a “stopgap” to Machado, we need to let Drury play on the big stage that is Yankees baseball.

In all transparency, the feelings around the Twittersphere are very positive for the former D’backs’ super-utility man. I mean, why shouldn’t they be?

General manager Brian Cashman was able to acquire a player that brings a unique skillset to the table (Liam Neeson voice), filling a need right now for the Yanks for a little over $600K. That’s a massive win in my book.

The beauty of Drury is that we already have a small sample size of what he’s capable of at the big league level in a little over two years of professional duty.

And manager Aaron Boone agrees, should the Oregon native, and self-proclaimed Yankees fan as a child, get a steadier dose of innings, Drury could carve out a spot for himself for a long time to come — as told to the New York Post.

“We are excited about him. He is a guy who has already established himself a little bit at the major league level for a couple of years, but we are also getting a young player that we feel has a chance to fit in long term,’’ Boone said. “We will probably focus more on third base, where last year pretty much mostly second base in Arizona. We feel he is really going to help us. Hopefully, he is one of those guys we can help take another step and become more of an impact that has already been.’’

The arrival of Drury

Naturally, the arrival of Drury and his major league experience would lead you to believe he’ll get a leg up in camp over rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. With the understanding that Drury will see extended time at third base this spring, it allows the Yankees to begin the new season with their No.1 and No. 5 prospects back in Triple-A.

Now I’m sure this will send more than a few diehards over the edge, but let’s be honest, shall we?

Gleyber Torres only saw 23 games (81 at-bats) at Triple-A before season-ending surgery in 2017. Even if he is “a natural,” as reports would have you believe — and even if he were to have the type of spring Greg Bird did last calendar year, service time would put the kibosh on his arrival to the bigs until May.

I fully expect the 21-year-old to be a phenom, but why rush it. Let Torres knock the rust off for a month or two in Scranton. Let his play force the organization to promote him.

As for Andujar, by all accounts, his bat is big league ready. And yes, his glove looked much improved during the recent Arizona Fall League, but that’s a small sample size to go by.

Miguel Andujar has only seen 58 games (227 at-bats) at Triple-A. He’ll turn 23 on March 2 and has an extremely bright future. However, when coaches have him throwing across the diamond to first base with eyes closed, as reported by Brendan Kuty, I throw up a red flag.

Manny Machado could change everything

I understand Andujar’s closed eyes toss is a drill to get the kid more comfortable with his surroundings — and hey, if it fixes some of his accuracy concerns, I’m all for it. But this isn’t the type of exercise you do with a big league ready third baseman.

Neither Torres or Andujar is “blocked” (which I’ve also incessantly read online) by the acquisition of Drury. And that is fine and dandy. But what if, and follow me here — all three show signs of having the keys to a championship caliber Yankees’ club?

We already know Drury can play five different positions; Torres should be able to handle second base or third base due to his natural shortstop ability, and Andujar was even used strictly as a DH during his brief stint with the Yanks in 2017.

Fast forward to 2019, and the Yankees at the very least, reach the playoffs, make some noise — and maybe, just maybe win the whole dang thing. For this exercise, I won’t speculate that the Yanks miss the playoffs because that would change everything I’m about to say.

Manny Machado, who’ll turn 26 in July, is set for a payday never before seen in professional sports. Remeber, this is a guy who’s idol is Alex Rodriguez.

What happens if and when Machado asks for a 10-year, $350-400 million contract?

Could the Yankees feasibly employ both he and Giancarlo Stanton — not to mention 23 other big leaguers at the same time? If Hal Steinbrenner and the boys are willing to blow the luxury tax threshold out of the water for the next decade, then sure.

I mean, it’s part of the reason why the organization is so adamant to stay below $197 million this season, therefore resetting the spending penalties going forward.

What happens to Didi?

Despite what you might have heard, the Yankees’ organization is not hurting for money. They are just reprioritizing to the new approach of the business of baseball.

Now here’s the rub: according to Bob Nightengale of the USA Today, Machado wants to be a Yankee — and the feeling is mutual. It’s the main reason they didn’t bring back Todd Frazier, and never really considered free agent Mike Moustakas.

By the same token, Machado has let it be known that he fully intends to play shortstop for the remainder of his career. But the Yanks already have an All-Star caliber player in that position. His name is Didi Gregorius.

So unless Sir Didi, of his own volition, concedes that he will move to another spot in the infield, how’s this all going down? Now, sure, Manny could backpedal, and say he’s willing to head back to the hot corner for the “privilege” of playing in the Bronx.

Which inherently puts Miguel Andujar in the crosshairs of a strict DH role, while Stanton moves back to a corner outfield spot and Torres is firmly planted at second base. Or, and here’s the giant consideration, Andujar becomes expendable and therefore is trade bait!

How dare I mutter those words aloud. The Yankees trading a prospect — preposterous! But that’s the truth if Machado is brought onboard.

The bottom line is that the Yankees as an organization — and we, the fans, can’t have it all. I honestly feel general manager Brian Cashman knows that — hence the moves he’s been making over the past 18 months.