The Yankees’ search for a left fielder has lasted all offseason.
But you actually have to go all the way back to 2018 for the last time they had a true everyday player at the position. And even in that season, Brett Gardner started just 101 games in left.
The Yankees tried to solve the issue at last year’s trade deadline, when they acquired Andrew Benintendi from the Royals, but he went down for the remainder of the season in early September due to a fractured hamate bone. This offseason, though the Yankees were interested in retaining him, Benintendi signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the White Sox.
The class of lefty-swinging or switch-hitting free-agent left fielders has dwindled to just Jurickson Profar — who remains on the Yankees’ radar. Profar, linked to the Yankees earlier in his career, opted out of the final year of his contract with the Padres, which was worth $7.5 million.
Jurickson Profar remains a left fielder of interest for the Yankees, though he likely is looking for a deal worth more than the $7.5 million one he opted out of in San Diego.Getty ImagesThat leaves the trade market, which is led by Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, who requested a trade last month. The Pirates’ asking price is said to be sky-high.
As The Post’s Jon Heyman reported, sources indicated the Pirates offered Reynolds a six-year, $75 million deal and remained disinclined to trade the switch-hitting Reynolds — who turns 28 this month and won’t hit free agency until after the 2025 season.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said throughout the offseason that Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Cabrera could end up competing for the left field job with Estevan Florial potentially getting a shot. Hicks is owed just more than $30 million over the next three years, and the Yankees have looked into trading the 33-year-old with no success so far.
The Yankees’ efforts to move Hicks will become considerably more difficult in August — and that’s not simply because of the trade deadline. Hicks is set to attain 10-and-5 rights on Aug. 8. Players who accrue 10 years of MLB service time and have spent the past five consecutive seasons with the same team can veto any trade.
Oswaldo Cabrera played eight games in left last season and could find himself there again if the Yankees don’t add an outfielder before Opening Day.Getty ImagesCabrera played well in left field and produced at the plate after his promotion from Triple-A in mid-August, at least until the postseason, when he struggled (like much of the rest of the offense).
If the Yankees aren’t able to land a left fielder via trade or free agency before Opening Day, it will continue a lengthy period during which the Yankees have had a revolving door at the position. Since 2018, the Yankees have had four different Opening Day starters in left field — Giancarlo Stanton (2019), Gardner (2020), Jackson Frazier (2021, then known as Clint), Joey Gallo (2022) — and Hicks, Gallo and Mike Tauchman have each led the team in starts while Benintendi, Frazier and Miguel Andujar also got extensive reps.
The international signing strategy
The Yankees made another significant investment in the international market when they signed Brandon Mayea for $4.35 million at the opening of the signing period, a move made official on Sunday.
Mayea, 17, joins Jasson Dominguez and Roderick Arias as big-money signings in recent years as the Yankees have sought to concentrate their pool money on one main player.
New Yankees adviser Omar Minaya is a proponent of transforming the way international prospects enter the major league pool with a full draft.MLB via Getty ImagesThey will continue to get to do that for the foreseeable future because an international draft — which was proposed by MLB and became a sticking point during CBA negotiations with the players’ union a year ago — again has been put on the back burner. The proposal called for a 20-round, 600-selection draft that would have begun in 2024. The Players Association turned down the deal, which also would have eliminated the qualifying offer for free agents. Even after the issue was revisited in July, the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, and, according to sources, there are no plans to revisit it in the foreseeable future.
Ex-Mets general manager Omar Minaya, recently named Senior Advisor to Baseball Operations with the Yankees, was a proponent of the international draft and one of its driving forces. He still would like to see it get implemented, saying the current system is “unfair” to players who are over 17 and tend to get overlooked.
“They’re not getting a fair opportunity,’’ Minaya said. “The system is geared toward signing younger players. If you have a draft, everyone would get closer to their true values.”
Two Yankees stalwarts hang ’em up
Adam Warren and David Phelps, right-handers drafted out of college by the Yankees a year apart and who made their MLB debuts with the team in the first part of the 2012 season, both announced their retirements this week.
After debuting for the Yankees in 2012, David Phelps carved out a solid 10-year career as a middle reliever for seven more teams before returing this winter.Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostPhelps, 36, drafted out of Notre Dame in 2008, first pitched in the majors on April 8, 2012, and was with the Yankees for three seasons before being traded to the Marlins in Dec. 2014 in exchange for a package that included Nathan Eovaldi and Domingo German.
Warren, 35, came out of the University of North Carolina in 2009, and made his first appearance for the Yankees on June 9, 2012. He was shipped to the Cubs in Dec. 2015 for Starlin Castro. He last pitched in the majors for the Padres in 2019 and spent 2021 with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Justus isn’t served
The Yankees don’t have to regret trading away one-time prospect Justus Sheffield.Paul J. BereswillWorrying about trading prospects is favorite pastime of fans of most teams, but there are plenty of examples of why the teams are willing to make the trades. Justus Sheffield became the latest on Thursday, when he was designated for assignment by the Mariners to make room for the recently added Tommy LaStella.
Sheffield was part of the trade to Seattle for James Paxton following the 2018 season. The left-handed Sheffield originally came to the Yankees from Cleveland — along with Frazier — in the Andrew Miller deal at the deadline in 2016.
The 26-year-old Sheffield has a 5.47 ERA over parts of five major league seasons.
