Yankees claim slugging Triple-A first baseman looking for lightning in a bottle

Technically speaking, the last thing the New York Yankees need is a first baseman who can mash; they already have two of those in Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt, which feels like more than enough. If Brian Cashman and Co. are feeling hungry for depth, it might be a brighter idea to snag a few versatile corner infield options and threaten Pablo Reyes' job security.

Still, when a bat comes along who you believe in, you might as well snag it. For whatever reason, the Yankees felt inclined to use one of their open 40-man roster spots to snag CJ Alexander off waivers from the Athletics on Sunday afternoon.

Alexander hit the waiver wire last week when A's right-hander Michael Kelly was activated from the restricted list, where he landed after being busted for small-scale bad betting behavior; he was suspended, along with a few other minor-leaguers, for a full year. Sacramento's loss could be the Yankees' gain, if Alexander can ever figure out how to translate his smooth left-handed stroke from Triple-A to the majors.

More fuel for the "Goldschmidt to Second Base" fire? Absolutely not. Unless...? No. But what if...?

Yankees claim CJ Alexander from the Athletics (and 2024 KC Royals)

Alexander's two cameos in MLB action thus far have been bleak. He was a 2024 Royal for four games, recording one hit and striking out thrice. This year, he filled in with the A's, but didn't improve (eight Ks in 17 at-bats, alongside three singles).

Acknowledging that the Triple-A Pacific Coast League features a good deal of inflated offense - especially in Las Vegas, where Alexander played his home games - the 28-year-old has been quite impressive the past two years in the minors. He hit 16 homers and batted .303 with a .906 OPS in 82 games with Triple-A Omaha last summer, then started this season with 10 bombs and an .857 OPS in 42 games.

What happens in Vegas apparently stays in Scranton these days, though, and now the Yankees will get to see what they can glean from Alexander's profile. Maybe another Triple-A bat will be moving up sometime soon and the RailRiders could use an infusion of offense?