Yankees insider hints at major roster decision or pre-Opening Day trade for New York

There are a number of issues the New York Yankees must sort out by Opening Day, and they plan to use spring training as their experimental grounds (though it very much feels like one of the richest teams in baseball shouldn't be doing that).

Should they leave a couple of minor roles up for grabs? Sure! But to not have a starting third baseman or a leadoff hitter feels excessive. Throw in the continued left field problems, assuming you aren't sold on Jasson Dominguez's defense yet, as well as Giancarlo Stanton's injury (which was known by the organization since last year), and this just feels like malpractice.

Sadly, however, it's the reality. And with three weeks until the start of the season, the Yankees aren't necessarily closer to any answers — unless there's stuff going on behind closed doors reporters and fans are unaware of.

As it pertains to left field, though Dominguez has looked improved after early hiccups, the elephant in the room will not exit calmly until the top prospect is seen consistently performing at an above-average level on the defensive side of the ball. Either that, or he turns into a 30-homer bat and the team lives with below-average defense. That's a fair trade off.

But if there are growing pains on both ends? It'll be a tough situation to bear day in and day out. So perhaps New York Post and Yankees insider Joel Sherman is onto something with his latest revelation.

Yankees Rumors: Could Everson Pereira be massive key to NYY's offseason?

Once a top-three prospect, Everson Pereira's luster is as faded as it could possibly be before irrelevancy sets in. His highly-anticipated 2023 debut was terrible (.151 AVG, .427 OPS in 27 games) and it was followed up with Tommy John surgery in 2024. That's limited him to only taking DH reps at the start of the offseason, but everything could change once he's ready to take the field. The only problem is it's unclear when that will be.

Sherman suggests Pereira could be a platoon option in left field with Dominguez if the latter's defense doesn't improve and if Aaron Boone wants to alternate vs lefties and righties. Pereira has experience at all three outfield spots and is regarded as a promising defender. It's not outlandish to consider as he enters his age-24 season. This feels like some sort of make-or-break year for him in a way.

Let's say Pereria takes a leap and Dominguez gets his act together by living up to his billing. Well, that's a good problem to have, isn't it? Sherman suggests that could lead to Pereira becoming a trade chip to help the Yankees get the necessary roster aid they need, as he segwayed into the third base discussion.

At this point, it's all a hypothetical. There's no telling what kind of trade value Pereira would boast after two weeks of promising spring training play, and nobody's writing off Dominguez's ability to get right before Opening Day. It just adds to the laundry list of things Yankees fans will think about instead of merely enjoying baseball.