Apparently, Kiké Hernández wasn’t the only infielder on the New York Yankees radar. Joel Sherman of the New York Post states that general manager Brian Cashman tried to ink shortstop Amed Rosario. When Rosario signed a $1.5 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees offered the infielder a one-year contract worth $4 million. While Rosario can earn another $500,000 in bonus money with Tampa Bay, Ulises Cabrera, Rosario’s agent, told Sherman his client was more interested in steady playing time than extra guaranteed money.
This news comes at a time when Oswaldo Peraza was the candidate to break camp. However, the 23-year-old is out with shoulder discomfort.
Yankees Were Interested in Amed Rosario
Cashman got the green light from Hal Steinbrenner to spend money on infield depth. The club first approached Hernández, offering him the $4 million before choosing to go back to the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Rosario had signed with the Yankees, he could have been a bench or backup option. Now that both Hernandez and Rosario have signed, Sherman feels the team will keep looking for veteran infield depth. They might pursue players currently on rosters who might be cut from a job late in spring training.
Rosario hit .263/.305/.378 with six home runs and 58 RBI in 142 games between the Cleveland Guardians and Dodgers last season. Rosario, 28, started his career with the New York Mets, playing four seasons in Queens before being traded to Cleveland in the Francisco Lindor trade. In his four seasons with the Mets, Rosario hit .268/.302/.403 with 32 home runs and 148 RBI.
How Signing Rosario Affects the Rays
Rosario has been an everyday player in the past. But that won’t be necessary to do so with the Rays. He can play at shortstop when Jose Caballero needs a day off, although Rosario’s defense there slipped last year that the Dodgers moved him to the other side of the bag. He can fill in for Brandon Lowe at second or Josh Lowe in right against a left-handed pitcher. Rosario is versatile enough to play four positions, and the Rays can spend the remainder of the spring evaluating where he can play best come Opening Day.
His role with the Rays might not become clear for another month. Those answers will come in time, but the Rays are happy to have a utilityman like Rosario.
“We’ve got some competitions in camp,” said Rays executive Erik Neander. “Depending on how those all get sorted out. There is the ability to help us at both positions up the middle as well as the outifled gives us a lot of different ways to this together. We can come away with a better club had he not been here.”
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