With numerous outfield injuries and not many qualified replacements, the Yankees should look no further than old friend Melky Cabrera to fill this void.
As the days go by, the number of injuries in the Yankees outfield just seems to get greater and greater. Jacoby Ellsbury is seemingly injured with a new ailment every other week, Billy McKinney was injured crashing into the left-field wall, Clint Frazier has concussion issues, and Aaron Hicks is set to be back in the lineup this week but who knows for how long that will last.
For a little more depth in the outfield, the Yankees should turn to a former player, Melky Cabrera. Why? You may ask. Well, Cabrera is better than anything the Yankees have right now. They have been forced to start Jace Peterson in left-field over the past few games. Yep, that’s how bad it has gotten.
Melky is still currently a free agent and it is believed that he would be willing to even take a minor league deal with a team at this point, so what would the Yankees really have to lose? He could provide another veteran presence in the clubhouse and provide his experience of already playing in the Bronx.
While he is not the same Melky that he used to be, he can still produce at a decent level with his bat. In 156 games last season split between the Royals and White Sox, Cabrera slashed .285/.324/.423 with 14 home runs and 86 RBIs. He doesn’t provide much speed and defense anymore though.
It would be a reunion that the Yankees should at least consider going through with even if they are forced to relegate him to a bench role. Besides Brett Gardner, the Yankees don’t really have a bat in the lineup who has been around in the Bronx for a while and knows how to handle the immense pressure that comes with playing there.
Melky was a fan-favorite in his five seasons with the Yankees before being traded to the Atlanta Braves prior to the 2010 season.
If this signing did go down, it wouldn’t be one of those eye-popping ones, but it would be one that could fly under the radar and end up paying big dividends for the Yankees if it turns out well.