Rumored Yankees infield trade target to likely miss Opening Day with injury

Proving once and for all that the New York Yankees' injury issues are so contagious that the front office just thinking about trading for a player leaves that athlete vulnerable, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim infielder Luis Rengifo has removed himself from Brian Cashman's big board.

Rengifo, who missed the majority of 2024's second half while battling a wrist injury, might've been dealt to the Yankees last season if he'd stayed healthy. The Yankees added the controllable and electric Jazz Chisholm Jr., but still ended up one bonafide infielder short, leading insiders like Joel Sherman to rattle the Rengifo cage again this spring.

Due to a hamstring issue that's lingering, the Angels announced on Sunday that they plan to back off Rengifo's ramp up, leaving him questionable for Opening Day as the clock loudly ticks.

Whether he rallies and makes the roster or not is irrelevant, at this point. The Yankees are already hesitant to deal assets for a walk year option on their current budget. If they can't say with any certainty that he'll be healthy enough to crack the Opening Day lineup, then why bother?

Yankees' Luis Rengifo trade rumors won't be necessary. He's injured, too.

Cashman and Co. should be very careful who they consider adding for the remainder of spring. Even the slightest hint that the Yankees might be interested in you is enough to cause hamstring pain or an elbow ache these days.

Rengifo, making $5.95 million in his final year of arbitration, posted a 116 OPS+ and batted .300 last year, but ended up restricted to just 283 at-bats, felled by the wrist. He's a similar player to Luis Arraez on a lesser scale. He's not a defensive fit. The power disappeared (six homers last season after 17 and 16 the previous two years). The metrics don't like him, either. But he puts bat on ball and doesn't have to bat .330 to be valuable like Arraez does; he's coming off three consecutive above-average offensive seasons, peaking at 2.4 bWAR in 2022.

The Yankees will have to go back to hoping that a combination of Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza can match Rengifo's potential contributions, given that his ceiling isn't quite as unattainable as other potential trade targets. But who are we kidding? That was their strategy long before the injury appeared.