The Yankees acquired Luis García Jr. from the Nationals at the trade deadline. Since then, García has been the club’s regular first baseman, with Ben Rice mostly in the designated hitter slot. Next year, perhaps the Yanks could mix things up by moving García back to second. “Obviously an infielder in his past,” manager Aaron Boone said this week, per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. “And feel like that could even be in play, you know, moving forward in coming years.”
García came up as a middle infielder when he debuted with the Nats. He became the regular second baseman in Washington, getting at least 112 starts there in each season from 2023 to 2025. His defensive grades at the keystone were not strong. In over 4,000 innings at that spot, he was credited with minus-29 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-18 Outs Above Average and got a minus-15 mark from Fielding Run Value.
The Nationals moved García to first base this year, which worked out well. He has 2 DRS, 3 OAA and 2 FRV so far at his new position. At the plate, he has had the best season of his career. Whether the defensive switch helped him focus on his hitting is something that could be debated but the end result was García hitting 30 home runs, almost doubling his previous high of 18. He slashed .277/.309/.521 for a 124 wRC+. In previous seasons, he only once had a wRC+ above 95, posting a 108 in 2024.
García can be retained for one more year via arbitration. Given his offensive performance, it would make sense for the Yanks to bring him back. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects García for a salary of $11MM next year.
Moving García to second would be risky on account of his previous lack of success there, but it would make some sense when considering the larger roster picture. If García and Rice are in the lineup everyday at first base and DH, that doesn’t leave the club a lot of flexibility and leaves no spot for Giancarlo Stanton.
The lack of a spot for Stanton hasn’t really been an issue yet. He was on the injured list at the time García was acquired. He was reinstated off the IL in time for the Wild Card series but the Yanks only plan to deploy him in a pinch-hitter role during the ongoing postseason due to his lack of recent game action.
Stanton is signed through next year. He has been very prone to injuries in recent seasons but has still been productive when healthy. This was his fifth straight season coming up shy of 115 games played but he has a .225/.301/.475 line and 114 wRC+ in that 2022-2026 span.
There are other moving pieces to consider as well. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been the regular second baseman in the Bronx but is an impending free agent. Chisholm is a talented but flawed player. Offensively, he hits home runs, draws walks and steals bases but also strikes out a decent amount.
Defensively, he has athleticism but is prone to mistakes. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has made 39 errors as a second baseman. That’s tied for fourth in the majors at the position for that span. The three guys who committed more errors did so in larger samples, due to Chisholm also playing other positions.
Despite the mistakes, he has still generally received strong marks from advanced metrics, due to his aforementioned athleticism. He has 28 OAA at the keystone in his career, including 13 in 2026. DRS has mostly given him positive grades but had him at minus-6 this year.
Perhaps the Yankees would let Chisholm walk. He’s a candidate for a qualifying offer but maybe the Yankees wouldn’t give him one, given the risk he might accept the way that Trent Grisham did a year ago. If Chisholm was allowed to leave, the Yankees could then leave second base open and they could experiment with García. If that didn’t work out, they would have José Caballero and Anthony Volpe on hand as fallbacks, assuming George Lombard Jr. will get a chance to cement himself at shortstop next year.
There’s also the third base situation to consider. Ryan McMahon is signed through 2027 but is coming off the worst year of his career. He has always been strikeout-prone but his walks and his power dipped this year. His .213/.279/.357 line led to a 78 wRC+, his worst offense since 2020. His normally sure-handed defense also evaporated. DRS gave him a double-digit positive grade in five straight years from 2021 to 2025 but had him at minus-3 this year. OAA and FRV had him closer to average but also after much stronger grades in previous campaigns.
There will be a lot of decisions for the Yankees to make. Moving on from Stanton is tough because of his no-trade clause and salary. In theory, they could release him but that wouldn’t save any money and, as mentioned, he has been good when on the field. García could be traded but that would weaken the lineup. Moving him to second would likely lead to a defensive downgrade. Volpe or Caballero would likely be better defensively but are subpar hitters and make more sense in utility roles. With McMahon, the Yankees could hope for a bounceback or move on. Volpe and Caballero could pick up some third base time if McMahon is gone and García is viable at second. Moving García to third probably isn’t likely since his arm strength has never been good.
Free agency has a few solid options at second base. In addition to Chisholm, the market features Brandon Lowe, Luis Arraez and others. But if the Yankees can find an internal solution at second and/or third base, that could perhaps improve their versatility and also allow them to dedicate resources to other areas.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
