Yankees should take advantage of Twins' roster crunch and trade for patient infielder

With the Yankees' ongoing search for infield help no closer to a resolution than it was when the poisoned champagne dried on the Yankee Stadium grass, fans have rightly spent December focused on trying to pry away either the Twins' most expensive infielder (Carlos Correa) or the Derek Jeter-esque shortstop who seemed likely to lead them to the promised land, but less so today (Royce Lewis).

But is it possible that, though both those players seem to be varying degrees of untouchable, one of their cohorts coming off a down year could be pried away?

2024 All-Star and utility specialist Willi Castro seems poised to partially cover second, but mostly float around in Minnesota next season. Jose Miranda will take primary reps at first base. Lewis and Correa will be on the left side, and part-time chances will be open for the fruits of the Twins' farm system, including 28-year-old rookie David Helman, ex-Jay Austin Martin, and 22-year-old 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee (who, yes, also scuffled in 2024 at the MLB level).

Does that make Edouard Julien somewhat expendable, given his existing 2023 peaks, which should have his trade value sitting higher than Martin's after a down 2024? At least he's done it before, after all.

Given the Yankees' ongoing need to find balance (bats lefty: check) and versatility (plays third, second, and first: check) while prizing both patience and pedigree (former top prospect with a .381 OBP in 2023: check and check), Julien seems like a perfect potential target. The Yankees have an overflowing bullpen. Minnesota always seems to need arms. Ian Hamilton, controlled through 2028, for Julien? Who says no? Add a sturdy prospect (Rafael Flores) and make things sweeter?

Yankees should try to trade relief pitching for Twins infielder Edouard Julien

Also, never forget (please forget): Based on the above screenshot, Julien's first two MLB hits came against the Yankees, both off Jhony Brito in the most dreadful inning of the 2023 season.

Despite Julien mostly receding into the ether in 2024, make no mistake. This is still a player worth paying a slightly premium price for. For whatever reason, he was unable to bust out of a platoon in 2024, and it feels like an Anthony-Rizzo-digging-out-a-low-throw-esque stretch to blame the wrist bruise that robbed him of a portion of spring training. Eventually, he'd lost playing time to pitchers of both handedness, batting .203 against righties and .172 against lefties. His .804 OPS in 186 Triple-A at-bats (and requisite .395 OBP) were a bit more in line with his previous work, but still didn't point to a shimmering star being buried in the same way his 2023 season did.

That year, he was in the top 2% of all MLB hitters in walk rate, barreling the ball up in the 86th percentile when he did hit it and ranking in the 91st percentile for connecting on the launch-angle sweet spot. What happened? The eye didn't disappear, but the contact did. Perhaps a move to Yankee Stadium's tempting right field porch will solve the issues. At the very least, the Yankees might be able to roll the dice on a top prospect one year after he mostly ducked out of the public eye, which has long been one of their favorite tools. They have the bullpen depth to do it, too.