Yankees' late night demotion was another missed chance in roster battle

Oswald Peraza's lack of minor-league options gave him a leg up in the Yankees' infield bench picture; either he makes the roster, splitting time with Oswaldo Cabrera at third, or he's let go, dealt or DFA'd.

Still, in a world where plenty of roster projections are choosing between veteran utility man/non-roster invitee Pablo Reyes and Dominic Smith for the Yankees' final spot, it's a shame that Jorbit Vivas wasn't given more genuine consideration to fill the role.

The Yankees already burned one of Vivas' options quite callously last summer; he was promoted for a single series in Baltimore before the All-Star break, didn't receive an at-bat, then was sent back to the minors, never to be heard from again. Perhaps they want to use Reyes/Smith/Peraza until they're proven no longer useful while keeping an extra option in the chamber, readying himself for action.

Still, if the Yankees were hoping to see production from their young infielder after a semi-lost season in 2024, they certainly received it; Vivas hit .500 until the spring's final days, settling at 10-for-25. He was demoted after the Yankees' silent shutout loss to the Braves on Wednesday night.

Yankees demote Jorbit Vivas in roster shuffle after Wednesday night's spring training loss

We're not breaking new ground here by saying Vivas wasn't given a genuine chance to win a job. That was inherent in his chase from the start. We're just saying it was a missed opportunity to begin the "competition" with that presupposition, then act on what you'd already mentally declared as the process unfolded.

For what it's worth, Reyes, with more experience in his personal bag, is hitting .324 with a homer in nine additional at-bats. If the Yankees don't deploy him, they might lose him. If this were truly merit-based, Peraza would be the odd one out.

Instead, all we can hope for is that the Yankees really do have some mysterious right-handed-batting trade target circled in the coming days, and that they actually learned something from Vivas' surge rather than paying no attention to it, prior to his perfunctory demotion. Hope to see him before July in Baltimore.