Angels-Zach Neto rumors could unexpectedly solve a different Yankees' problem

The left side of the New York Yankees infield is a problem. Jose Caballero's best skill is his versatility. His second-best skill is his ability to get under people's skin, primarily with his metronome-like pitch-clock antics. Anthony Volpe, well, he's Anthony Volpe. There's a reason why folks are clamoring for George Lombard Jr. to get the call and take over at shortstop. Then, of course, there's the dynamic duo of Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario at third base.

The infield market is tough to figure out right now. Forget about trading for a third baseman. Isaac Paredes seemed like an option should the Houston Astros sell, but recent comments from their general manager, Dana Brown, indicate that they'll be buyers at the trade deadline.

Shortstop potentially could be a different story. It's unclear whether or not the Washington Nationals would be willing to trade CJ Abrams, but Jeff Passan has indicated that the Los Angeles Angels are at least willing to listen on Zach Neto.

Neto won't come cheap, but finding a solution to what has become a chronic problem, plus adding a right-handed bat with power, might just be worth it. Just not as a shortstop. That could be a disaster. But Neto as a third baseman could make a ton of sense.

Yankees trading for Zach Neto only makes sense if they move him to third base

The Angels shortstop does a lot of things well, but defense isn't necessarily one of them. Through July 22, he's posted -7 outs above average at the position. Last year, his OAA came in at -8, and in 2024 he posted a -6 mark.

For the traditionalists, he's made 14 errors and posted a career-worst .962 fielding percentage. Of his 14 errors, only five are throwing errors.

To be fair, defensive runs saved disagrees with OAA, giving Neto credit for 2 DRS this season, 13 last year, and 11 in 2024. For a shortstop, though, OAA is the more accurate metric because of the Statcast tracking data that fuels the metric's calculation.

Neto's range is the issue, but his arm is not. His 89.4 miles per hour average arm strength is an 83rd percentile mark. His arm would play at the hot corner, and he'd benefit from having less ground to cover.

As an added bonus, he wouldn't block George Lombard Jr. Neto is only 25 years old and is under team control for three additional seasons. Even if the Yankees' No. 1 prospect doesn't ascend to the majors this year, he'd eventually be in conflict with Neto should the Yankees pull the trigger on a trade.

Having the two play next to each other might be the best-case scenario, anyway. Lombard Jr. has the skill set to be a plus defensive shortstop at minimum, which would make life easier on Neto.

Neto's biggest appeal is his bat. He's hitting .238/.326/.446 with 19 homers and 13 steals. That performance is good for a 114 mark, which is almost identical to the 116 and 115 marks he turned in in 2025 and 2024.

The dynamic shortstop missed almost the entire first month of the season last year, but still finished with 26 homers and 26 stolen bases. He has legitimate 30-30 potential, and he's only going to get better from here on out.

Neto is an ideal trade target for the Yankees, as long as they're willing to think a little bit outside of the box with deploying him and make all the roster pieces fit together perfectly.

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