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3 DFA’d targets Yankees should sign after 40-man shuffle

By Adam Weinrib

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 24: Hunter Renfroe #11 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning in Game Four of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 24, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 24: Hunter Renfroe #11 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning in Game Four of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 24, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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The New York Yankees have an entirely new pool of players to plunder from now that the 40-man roster deadline has passed.

The Yankees luckily got through “Rule 5 Protection Day” without having to make any extremely difficult decisions.

The prospects we anticipated they’d protect got added to the roster (Oswald Peraza and three young pitchers), and they weren’t forced to shove any veterans into the ether in order to make room.

There were a few other teams across MLB, though, that let some veterans slip away in the process, providing the Yankees with some all-new depth options, some of which are more intriguing than others.

With all due respect to Luis Perdomo of the San Diego Padres and Glenn Sparkman of the Kansas City Royals, there are some higher-profile players who are now on the open market and would look nice at the margins of the Yanks’ roster.

After all, it’s just the veteran’s minimum, right?

Yankees
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 08: Renato Nunez #39 of the Baltimore Orioles swings at a pitch against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 08, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

3. Renato Núñez

The Orioles’ loss could be the Yankees’ gain with Renato Núñez.

Fresh off torturing the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers can now bring slugging Orioles third baseman Renato Núñez onto their own roster. Just like that! Is this real life?

The versatility downgrade from guys like Thairo Estrada and Tyler Wade would be significant, but Núñez is far less of a defensive liability than Miguel Andújar, and has shown an explosive power bat at third base over the past few years. So is there room here for Núñez to step into a void left by Andújar, perhaps in trade?

The 26-year-old slugged a remarkable 31 homers in a 2019 season we probably didn’t properly contextualize, considering how brutal the Orioles were on the whole. Even in the shortened 60-game, he still rocketed 12 dingers.

Núñez especially mashes lefties, though, which might be his calling card as he ages. In 2019, he slashed .270/.326/.510 against southpaws, knocking 13 bombs in 221 plate appearances. That’ll play. After all, how many times can you recall Núñez sitting on an inside fastball and plating it deep into the left-field seats over the past few years of divisional competition?

We weren’t expecting to be advocating for the addition of Núñez because we weren’t expecting him to be available. But he’s going to go somewhere and make an impact, so why not consider making it here?

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