Yankees must call perfect free agent fit after Cardinals’ bad decision

The Yankees need to call former Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong, who was bizarrely launched off the roster to save money.

The 2020-21 offseason is going to be a bizarre (and possibly illegal!) one for all teams and players. But when the New York Yankees cry poor, at least they don’t do it to this extent.

In fact, based on early returns, it seems like the Yanks could be considered high-dollar players, even in their attempts to avoid the luxury tax threshold.

Cardinals fans were dealt a blow to their contention on Friday when they declined their mid-range option on homegrown second baseman and defensive whiz Kolten Wong, opting to pay him $1 million as a lease-breaking fee instead of his proposed salary of $12.5 million for the season.

Now, Wong is hitting the market, and we’ve seen a little speculation about his fit as a solid DJ LeMahieu alternative. To that we say: Um, why not just sign both?

One of the Yankees’ myriad problems in 2020 was simply not having enough good players. The starting lineup? Very good, when all nine proposed starters came to play!

The first line of defense, following an injury or two? Pretty bad! It included under-performers like Mike Tauchman, Tyler Wade, Thairo Estrada and Jordy Mercer. This step back was best epitomized by the middle infield, featuring the semi-anonymous names above for good portions of the season.

We’ve seen a lot of fans worried about “where everyone will play” if the team further overloads the infield, but the last time we had this issue, it worked out just fine. DJ LeMahieu wasn’t even the Opening Day starter when he arrived, ceding that gig to Troy Tulowitzki. But within a week, LeMahieu went from a floating glove to an everyday player after Tulo’s sad career-ending injury, and Gio Urshela was soon inserted as well in Miguel Andujar’s stead. Things happen, and the second wave of players needs to be very good for a team to be competitive.

So what does Wong bring to the table? A Gold Glove, upside bat, and unmatched intensity.

In a shortened 2020, the 30-year-old Wong was worth 1.1 WAR, hitting .265 with a .350 OBP. He’s a great glove, some bat, all battle option for the middle infield, and has put up solid all-around campaigns in the not-so-distant past. We’re not talking about a feckless offensive option here; Wong just socked 11 homers and batted .285 the year prior.

His ceiling is likely as a scrappy .280-ish hitter with moderate line-drive power, otherwise known as a perfect option to make 60 starts, get 400 at-bats, and play late-inning defense.

The choice here isn’t between LeMahieu and Wong. The choice is between adding depth at someone else’s expense or sitting on your hands. The Yankees should choose to be players in a landscape clearly laid out for the rich to get richer, exemplified by the Cardinals’ penny-pinching.

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