Yankees general manager Brian Cashman comments on Bryce Harper

Brian Cashman was recently asked at the General Manager’s meetings, that if the Yankees picked up Bryce Harper, did he think Harper could move from the outfield to first base.

We will hear undoubtedly hear a lot about both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado this offseason until team(s) pick them up. As we all know, the Yankees have issues at first base. Even after Luke’s Voit’s stellar September, critics wonder if he is the next Shane Spencer.

There’s also the perennial question mark, Greg Bird, who performed poorly yet again in 2018, slashing .199/.286/.386 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs.

Bird landed on the disabled list on March 29, 20,18 to undergo right ankle surgery, forcing him to miss almost two months of baseball activity.

On July 27, Brian Cashman acquired first baseman Luke Voit, plus international bonus pool money in a trade with the Cardinals for relievers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos.

The Bombers used their full allotment of bonus cash to sign three international prospects: Osiel Rodriguez, right-handed pitchers Alexander Vargas and Jose Chambuco.

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Voit replaced Bird at first base, and he went to work, hitting 14 home runs and 33 RBIs which was a gigantic boost for the Yanks.

In 270 innings, Voit turned 16 double plays and had a .991 fielding percentage. In 360 innings, Bird was part of 20 double plays and had a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Unfortunately, the Yankees have lost a lot of hope in Bird, with his foot and shoulder surgeries forcing him to miss all of 2016 — 116 games in 2017 and 58 games in 2018. Due to mass uncertainty, it’s still possible that the Yanks pull off a significant coup and sign Bryce Harper this offseason.

Kevin Davidoff of NYPost.com spoke to super-agent Scott Boras, who commented that his client, Bryce Harper has the feet, hands, and the overall skills needed to quickly adapt to first base.

Brian Cashman later responded on Harper’s potential to transition from the outfield to first base:

At the general managers’ meetings — where Boras is expected to address the media on Wednesday — Cashman smiled and said, “I don’t know” when asked whether Harper could handle such a transition.“Obviously he’s extremely talented and athletic,” Cashman said.“We’ll assess everything in the marketplace and how it might fit us,” Cashman continued. “I haven’t talked to Scott yet, but I try to talk to everybody while I’m here.”

If you haven’t heard, Harper turned down a 10-year, $300 million deal from the Nationals before the completion of the 2018 regular season. Boras stated that Nats didn’t offer Bryce anywhere near his actual worth ($400 million-$500 million).

I sure hope the Yankees and Cashman don’t offer that much money to Harper as that’s. You could get two or three excellent starting pitchers for that price.