Yankees missed chance to sign surprisingly potent infield bat for dirt cheap

Welcome to the 2024-25 offseason, potentially the fourth straight year where we've written about Donovan Solano as a bench option for the Yankees, and definitely the fourth straight year where they didn't sign him.

Solano went to Seattle on an MLB deal this time around after settling for a minor-league pact with the Padres last season. Certainly, at some point, the 37-year-old known as Donnie Barrels will slow down to the point where his bat is no longer able to carry him to consistent employment. Perhaps that point is right now, given that he'll be struggling to solve T-Mobile Park along with the rest of the Mariners offense.

But ... man ... Solano, who cost $3.5 million in initial salary and can work his way into an additional million dollars if he -- guess what? -- hits, feels like a monster bargain in a market dominated by strange reticence.

Expecting Solano to continue to post higher wRC+ totals than a collection of extremely well-known and powerful hitters feels foolish, and yet ... for $3.5 million ... it would've been nice for the Yankees to have this type of production for their barren bench. And, yes, last season, he played 21 games at first and 31 at third, meaning his presence would've helped shift Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to his natural position.

Yankees could've signed surprisingly strong batsman Donovan Solano for $3.5 million

Or, you know, betting on Jorge Polanco at double that salary works, too. But, much like Jim calling Michael Scott from his office directly behind him ... gotta do something, man.

Now, here's the part of the story where we briefly deviate into predictable anger before again reaching the "bargaining" stage of grief: yes, the Yankees did employ Donovan Solano back in 2016. Yes, he was unproductive for them, batting .227 in 22 at-bats. He was in their system in 2017, too, before spending the summer in the minors with the Dodgers in '18. Yes, the Ya were the last big-league team not to reap the rewards of carrying Solano on their active roster; he didn't appear in the majors again until 2019 with the Giants, but he hit .330 with a 116 OPS+ that season and took off on an upward trajectory.

Kudos, as always, to the Yankees, for figuring something out and reaping zero reward for their labor while others thrive around them!

Solano could turn out to not be the perfect fit we're dreaming he could've been. He's likely a part-time player, at this juncture. Though they should, the Yankees have shown no inclination to spend even Jose Trevino money on their bench. Even so, these are the type of marginal deals that turn winners into champions sometimes, and if the Yankees have a better idea for building reliable depth, they haven't shown us yet.

If we were really nuts, we would've pointed out Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton on that "worse than Solano" list and underlined them three times. Thankfully, we're not that petty.