Yankees News: Highly-touted international signing, defensive questions, Aaron Boone

Much of the chatter these days in New York Yankees land is centered around All-Star talk and early trade deadline speculation as we inch closer to the stretch run, but there are plenty of other happenings going on in the Bronx.

We've seen an exciting youngster come into the fold, some defensive frustrations, and, unsurprisingly, the Yankees skipper finding himself in the crosshairs of more criticism. Without further ado, let's dive in and dissect some of the latest breaking news.

Yankees land exciting 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Fan Lai

New York came to terms on June 23 with top-rated Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Fan Lai as a non-drafted free agent. It's an exciting deal, as the 18-year-old is already sitting 91-94 miles per hour, per MLB Insider Francys Romero, and has a reputation for possessing strong command despite his young age.

Romero also reports that the deal includes an $850,000 bonus, which is pretty hefty, especially for a player hailing from a second-tier baseball hotbed like Taiwan. The last pitcher the Yankees signed out of Taiwan was Chien-Ming Wang, who looked like a rotation fixture in the mid-2000s until an unfortunate foot injury derailed his career.

Under new international scouting director Mario Garza, the Yankees have shown that they'll leave no stone unturned in search of talent, and this could be a sign that his right-hand man in the Asian market, Matt Slater, will have an outsized impact.

Yankees' defense has been struggling as Jose Caballero's outfield adventures have been frustrating

The Yankees' defense has been a mixed bag all season. Cody Bellinger has been one of the best defenders in the game, regardless of position, all season. However, other players, like Trent Grisham prior to his injury, have been below average.

Overall, though, there has been a baseline of competence. That is, until recently. The combination of Aaron Judge and Grisham's injuries has led to some strange outfield alignments, with Jose Caballero's deployment being the crux of the matter.

Since June 2, Caballero has played an outfield position for at least part of 11 of the 17 games in which he's appeared. It has not gone well. After putting together five defensive runs saved so far at shortstop, the 29-year-old has compiled -2 defensive runs saved during his outfield forays.

Aaron Boone insists that Caballero is really good in the outfield, but both the advanced metrics and the eye test say otherwise. Against left-handed pitching, this has been his preferred alignment with Anthony Volpe starting at shortstop, presumably because he doesn't trust left-handed hitting Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez's lopsided platoon splits to produce offensively against southpaws.

It's reached the point where the experiment needs to end, though. Even if Boone is right about the offensive factors, the defensive value he's giving away threatens to eclipse whatever gains he's getting in the batter's box.

Aaron Boone lies (or so we thought) about Anthony Volpe's status in lineup vs Tigers

Speaking of Aaron Boone and Anthony Volpe, the skipper appeared earlier in the day on June 23 on the Talkin' Yanks podcast and claimed that Volpe would be on the bench during the night's matchup against the Detroit Tigers. However, hours later, when the lineup card was released, Volpe was starting at shortstop with Caballero at third base.

Volpe has had a hot bat over his last few games, but he still fails to come through too often at the plate and still has lapses in the field. He has his place, but Caballero should be getting more run at shortstop at the 25-year-old's expense.

The inclusion of Volpe after Boone stated he'd be on the bench, combined with Caballero's presence at the hot corner, could be explained by Ryan McMahon succumbing to an ear/throat infection.

Despite the plausibility of that explanation, it ignores the fact that Boone had other options. Amed Rosario has a reputation for mashing lefties, but he's got an .859 OPS this season against righties over 52 plate appearances compared to 76 against southpaws. With right-hander Casey Mize on the mound for Detroit, he shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Of course, Max Schuemann exists, too.

The fact of the matter is that Boone has a gigantic soft spot for Volpe and will always give the former top prospect the benefit of the doubt. As we've learned, it's very frustrating.

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