Yankees: Revisiting the decision to swap Tyler Austin for Luke Voit

The Yankees have a been a revolving door at first base this season. So did the team make the right call to swap out one first baseman while keeping another that continues to struggle?

According to ESPN’s player profiles, one Yankees first baseman is slugging .382. Another was slugging .471 with the team and has put up a .557 slugging percentage since leaving. Based on those cold, hard numbers, it looks like the Yanks shipped out the better bat.

So why did general manager Brian Cashman trade away Tyler Austin, a young player with some versatility, and keep the perpetually-struggling Greg Bird?

Today, it’d be easy to say that the swap doesn’t matter because Luke Voit has exceeded all expectations during his short time in pinstripes. According to those same profiles, Voit has lived up to the Bronx Bomber name. The former Cardinal has a .622 slugging percentage and a 1.005 OPS.

For now, the Yankees black hole at first base has been filled. Hallelujah!

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But Cashman couldn’t have known that Voit would push his way into the starting lineup. As far as we know, the Yankees’ general manager doesn’t have a crystal ball or the power of precognition. That’s why we find ourselves wondering: what the heck was Cashman thinking?

Bird has been awful this year. He put up a .122 batting average in August and his stat line since the All-Star break (.172 average, .295 slugging, .543 on-base plus slugging) is mediocre all around. Throughout the young first baseman’s career, he has struggled with injuries and inconsistency.

So that’s where Tyler Austin came in.

Bird had ankle surgery before the season started, and was on the shelf until late May. Tyler Austin wasn’t a great fill-in but, at the very least, he wasn’t costing the team with his play on the field.

Plus, Austin could slide to the outfield in a pinch. In a sport where versatility becomes increasingly vital, Austin was a valuable bat. Apparently, that flexibility wasn’t enough to save Austin’s spot with the team.

He was shipped to Minnesota in the Lance Lynn trade. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Voit’s arrival came just a few days earlier. Cashman essentially chose Voit over Austin. On that swap, it’s fair to say that Cashman made the right call. But why did the GM choose to keep Bird?

Maybe Cashman likes Bird’s potential; Bird is slightly younger, so he hypothetically has more time to figure it out. But Austin is barely a year older than his counterpart. So the age argument doesn’t make a lot of sense. Bird was a fifth-round draft pick while Austin was a 13th round choice, so maybe Cashman sided with Bird’s pedigree.

Maybe it’s too early to be comparing these three young first baseman. Right now, Voit seems to have seized the role of the Yankees’ first baseman of the future. Bird will continue to get playing time, as Cashman and manager Aaron Boone will keep hoping he breaks out of his continuous slump.

Meanwhile, Austin’s career will continue far away from the organization that drafted and developed him. That’s the business of baseball.