Yankees: 3 potential replacements for Aaron Hicks after wrist injury

2. Trade for David Peralta and Mess With CF

David Peralta of the Arizona Diamondbacks is not a true center fielder by any stretch of the imagination. recording 14 games as a rookie there in 2016 and eight in 2018…none since.

The main problem? There…aren’t many true centerfield options on the market, and there aren’t a lot of last-place teams looking to sell their centerfielders. Unless…the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim want to get involved? We’ll take Mike Trout off your hands, if it’s not too much trouble. We promise we’ll handle him with care.

In all seriousness, acquiring Peralta — who’s at the top of the game in hard-hit metrics and slots in mainly in left field — would be a nice addition for the Yankees, though it would involve some outfield restructuring. Brett Gardner would probably play more often than not (still), Clint Frazier would likely ride the pine more often than not (fine), and the Yanks would probably start Peralta primarily in left while testing him out in center on occasion.

Basically, if you like Peralta, it’s a tacit endorsement of Gardner to fill the Hicks void.

He’s a damned good player, though, as well as a burst of personality for a team that could be entering a rough patch. This season, Peralta’s sitting on a 116 OPS+ and five triples, which is more than the Yankees have as a team by a factor of…five. They have none.

The acquisition of Peralta made more sense when the Yankees had an outfield depth problem, not an outfield hole created by Hicks’ absence. Needless to say, though, Brett Gardner is already getting in Brian Cashman’s ear trying to make this one happen.

There is…one perfect option we haven’t covered yet.