The simplest stat possible makes it very clear why Yankees should cut Amed Rosario

When the New York Yankees re-signed Amed Rosario, they had one goal in mind. They wanted to add balance to their lefty-heavy lineup and bring back a piece to mash southpaws. At first, everything seemed to be going according to plan. Rosario was even hitting right-handed pitching.

The logic was sound. Rosario came into the season with an .800 career OPS against left-handed pitching. Yet, his hot start has fizzled, and he's not doing the one thing that the Yankees were looking for him to do. Through Aug. 19, he's hitting just .193 with a .610 OPS against lefties.

Surprisingly, he's been mashing righties, posting a .284/.319/.522 while at a platoon disadvantage. The problem is ... New York doesn't need him for that. After a brutal start, Ryan McMahon has stabilized his performance since mid-May. Since May 18, McMahon has a perfectly acceptable 105 wRC+ (and, hopefully, his finger injury suffered on Wednesday night heals quickly after initial positive reports).

The former shortstop has lost the quickness to reliably play the middle infield positions. He's not a natural outfielder, despite the attempts to give him run in the corners on the grass. That's left third base as Rosario's primary position.

The problem is that he's been an absolute butcher at the hot corner. Despite only logging 259 innings at the position, he's committed seven errors and owns a .887 fielding percentage. The advanced metrics don't like his defense either, tagging him with -8 outs above average and -5 defensive runs saved.

The Yankees need to cut Amed Rosario as soon as Cody Bellinger returns

All of this could be overlooked to an extent if the former New York Mets top prospect was doing what he was brought in to do and terrorize lefties. However, McMahon is a better defender, negating Rosario's uncharacteristically good performance against righties and leaving him without a purpose.

Cody Bellinger is about to begin a rehab assignment and could return to action soon. The Yankees will then need to clear a spot on the 26-man roster. The cleanest solution would be to send down Spencer Jones, but the youngster still has value, even with Bellinger returning to the fold.

Jones brings defensive chops at all three outfield spots, especially center field, where Trent Grisham has struggled with the glove. He also brings speed to the basepaths. Those abilities, particularly the defensive prowess, will allow New York to keep Bellinger in left field and protect his body after they've used him as the outfield's defensive ace for most of the season.

Furthermore, George Lombard Jr.'s emergence at shortstop has freed up Jose Caballero to resume the super utility role. If the Yankees want to rest McMahon against a tough lefty, for example, Caballero can man the hot corner.

Finally, if the Yankees find themselves needing another right-handed hitting infielder, they have former San Francisco Giants top prospect Marco Luciano waiting in the wings. Luciano has torn up both Somerset and Scranton after an offseason odyssey that landed him in the Yankees' system, and though he has primarily played second base, he could free up Caballero for more work at the hot corner.

Simply put, Rosario had one job with the Yankees, and that was to mash lefties. Instead, he hasn't done it and is striking out at a rate (26.4%) that's his highest since his rookie year in 2017. If he's not going to hit lefties and can't play even adequate defense, he really serves no purpose. New York needs to move on.

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