3 Yankees most likely to be traded after Anthony Volpe promotion

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Nothing against IKF whatsoever, but why is he still here? Why was he tendered a $6 million contract when the Yankees knew Cabrera would take on a more prominent utility role and LeMahieu would more than likely be fully healthy come the start of 2023?

Like we just mentioned, IKF's presence has served as nothing but a distraction and a logjam for better or younger options. Peraza's inclusion on the Opening Day roster would've been a no-brainer had IKF not been here, which would've been the perfect complement to Volpe getting the nod at shortstop.

His trade value is still "meh," but the Yankees would be doing themselves a favor by freeing up his money for some flexibility at the trade deadline, then opening up the infield situation for Peraza to come back up to the bigs not too long after the start of the season.

Emergency catcher or not, IKF's a redundancy, especially since Cabrera and LeMahieu both sport better bats. IKF's hit .278 with a .758 OPS and four steals this spring (not bad!) but you can bet without the luxury of regular reps, his offensive production will be even worse than it was last season.

The Yankees can and should figure out this easy subtraction rather quickly so they can add outfield depth or pitching depth, then promote Peraza later in April/May.