Yankees: Should they consider signing Steve Pearce?

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That’s the mindset that should be called upon by the Yankees this offseason. Steve Pearce is not a top free agent name, nor should he be. But Pearce has shown us all how well he has aged and his knack for getting big hits (especially against the Yankees). Should Pearce be a candidate to return to pinstripes?

I do not think Steve Pearce is everyday starter worthy on next season’s Yankees lineup. But I think he could be a very valuable piece off the bench. Pearce will be 36 at the start of the 2019 regular season, but based on his performance with Boston this season he doesn’t look like he’s nearing the tail end of his career.

Neil Walker was this season’s veteran player experiment. The 33-year-old infielder was forced to even play the outfield at times to get at-bats. And the Yankees signed him to a one year deal with a salary of just $4 million, compared to his previous year’s $14.2 million while playing for the Mets.

Pearce is coming off a 2 year / $12,500,000 contract he signed before his 2017 season with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ideally, the Yankees could sign him for less than the $6.25 million he made this season, perhaps even less than what Walker was being paid.

Now you might be thinking it’d be a waste of salary having Steve Pearce on the Yankees, but he has some underappreciated value. He can play first, which would be preferable if Greg Bird is on the “cutting block”, allowing Luke Voit to get some days off or serve as a late-game pinch-hitting option against a tough lefty.

He can play both corner outfield positions so he could rotate and fill in for Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton when manager Aaron Boone wants to give them a half day at DH. Pearce has even played a little second and third during his 12-year career.

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Now, what about his hitting? Like wine, Pearce has only gotten better with age. Most of Pearce’s career numbers have seen improvements over his last six seasons. After six seasons in the Majors (2007-2012), Pearce compiled 13 home runs, 78 RBI and a .234/.309/.369 slash. Over the next six seasons of his career (2013-2018), Pearce hit 77 home runs, 216 RBI and a .266/.347/.479 slash.

Now granted, over double the at-bats have come in the latter half of his career but still a decent improvement. And let’s not forget how good of a hitter Pearce is against the Yankees. A career .288 hitter with 15 home runs in just 191 at-bats. Some years even hitting well above .300 against the Bombers while playing in the same division.

As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em; or in this case buy ’em.

Pearce is a strong, somewhat underappreciated, candidate for a rotational job on the Yankees bench. Especially since Pearce has never racked up more the 338 at-bats in one season, he won’t need to adapt to coming off the bench or playing every few days.