Slugger who should've been Yankees' third base solution is scorching hot elsewhere

The New York Yankees didn't want to trust a power-first third base option from the upper minors two offseasons, so they exposed him to the Rule 5 Draft. It was unclear what they were hoping would transpire. Was their goal to lose him for nothing and watch him prosper elsewhere? Were they dreaming he'd sneak through under the radar so they could ... once again not play him at the big-league level? The possibilities were endless, as well as dull.

Ultimately, coming off a 19-homer sprint with a .965 OPS in 64 games at Double-A in 2022, the Yankees didn't believe Andres Chaparro had proven he could be anything more than a somewhat positionless upper-minors masher. After sneaking him through the waiver process, he was promoted to Triple-A the next season, where his offensive numbers dipped, seemingly justifying the Yankees' lack of faith. A .775 OPS, even with 25 homers, won't cut it if the parent club doesn't believe in the glove or a player's evolution. His right-handedness certainly did not help the situation.

There would be no follow-up Rule 5 drama this time around. Instead, the Yankees cut ties entirely, making Chaparro a minor-league free agent. He was scooped up by the NL Champion Diamondbacks in the wake of the departure of Evan Longoria (and trade for Eugenio Suarez). That's essentially blocked Chaparro again, denying him a big-league chance for now.

It hasn't put out his light, though. When we last checked in with Chaparro in May, he was scalding the baseball. That hasn't ceased, and he even got a shoutout -- and the No. 3 spot! -- on Baseball America's latest Hot Sheet, a catalog of top prospects.

Former New York Yankees prospect Andres Chaparro crushes Triple-A competition in Diamondbacks system

Yes, the Pacific Coast League is more hitter-friendly than the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' International League. The relentless heat and thin air leads to inflated offense. And yes, the 25-year-old Chaparro might be a third baseman (65 games this year), first baseman (13 games) or full-time DH (four tries) moving forward.

But there's no denying that his bat, which showed all characteristics of playing in 2022 before stalling somewhat the next year, has given the Diamondbacks a second chance to make the decision the Yankees passed on. Seventeen homers in 82 games, accompanied by a .328 batting average, .407 OBP and .979 OPS, will get you noticed just about anywhere. In the first week of July alone, Chaparro batted .625 and knocked in 15 runs all by himself.

Add that to Jorbit Vivas' progress, and the Yankees' could've had a pretty intriguing one-two punch at the top levels of their system while Gleyber Torres took a breather and DJ LeMahieu stagnated. Alas, the Yankees have a desert, and the desert has Chaparro.