Yankees might've just found Ben Rice's first base platoon partner in unlikely place

The New York Yankees have pledged not to wait for Cody Bellinger's free agency to resolve itself before taking additional steps forward this offseason, but ... actions speak louder than words. Most of the Yankees' rumored targets have yet to come off the board, but they have managed to miss out on a number of potential bullpen fits, while also failing to address shortstop, the outfield bench piece, and first base (beyond their Hail Mary suggestion of giving Amed Rosario some reps).

If your name isn't Cade Winquest, then congratulations: if you signed with the Yankees this offseason, then you were already here last year. It's not quite getting late early out here, but it's still been less than inspiring.

While Paul Goldschmidt did a serviceable job splitting reps with Ben Rice last season, the Yankees didn't exactly rush to reunite with him when he hit the open market. In fact, they've instead talked up Rice's transformation, not considering "backup first baseman" a priority after Goldy's slow stretch run.

On Saturday, they brought in a potential insurance piece at the position - and, credit to the Yanks for creativity, they went well off the map to find him. In tandem with former Brewers first base prospect Ernesto Martinez Jr., the Yankees will also bring in Nick Torres, a 32-year-old first baseman who just captured Mexican League MVP honors.

The New York Yankees have signed Mexican League MVP Nick Torres, a first base option

Torres hasn't spent time with a major league affiliate since 2018 with the Texas Rangers' Triple-A club. If this is a big-league pact, we'll be stunned.

Once upon a time, he was a fourth-round selection of the San Diego Padres out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but he's found much more success with Union Laguna of the independent Mexican League. This past season - his fourth with the club - he hit .345 and smashed 27 home runs, a career high at any level. His most in affiliated ball? 12, in a 2016 season split between San Antonio and El Paso.

Torres fell off the prospect map before he'd ever really even begun to climb it. Now, he'll enter spring training with a chance to make an impact and rise above the rest of the Yankees' Triple-A depth pieces. They're thin behind Rice in terms of pedigreed prospects, but have collected a very intriguing group equipped with upper-level experience between Torres, Martinez Jr., and TJ Rumfield, who survived the Rule 5 draft.

Now, it's onto other business. Please. It simply has to be.