MLB Trade Rumors: Should the New York Yankees Look Into Possibly Acquiring Jose Abreu?
After getting off to a somewhat uneven start, the New York Yankees have since zoomed up the standings and are now looking like the juggernaut many analysts pegged them to be during the preseason.
The terrific starts of Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia and the great work put in by the relievers out of the bullpen have helped the Yankees get to where they are currently, but one would be remiss to not take note of the team's spectacular offense.
Aaron Judge is putting together a wonderful sophomore season after a record-breaking rookie campaign, while Didi Gregorius carried the offense for much of April. Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton could still stand to get a few more hits but they have certainly supplied plenty of power.
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Even the other spots in the lineup, such as second base, third base, left field and center field, are currently being occupied by either promising rookies or solid veterans.
If there is one position where the Yankees could still improve by a lot though, it's first base.
Tyler Austin and Neil Walker have been taking starts at that spot in the place of the injured Greg Bird and both players have struggled.
With Bird possibly able to return by the end of this month, according to this recent report from CBS Sports, the Yankees may finally be able to install him at first and add his power bat to the lineup.
That's likely the plan at this point, but here's the thing, Bird has already missed plenty of games due to injury dating back to 2016, and it's fair to wonder if he can hold up for the regular season grind or even just produce like he did during his rookie season.
The Yankees cannot afford to have a weak spot in their lineup, and that's probably why they are getting linked to Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu.
In a recent article for FRS Network Baseball, MLB insider Jon Heyman listed the Yankees as one of the teams that could possibly trade for Abreu.
Again, given how little the Yankees have gotten from their first basemen thus far in terms of offense, trading for Abreu seems like it can be a really good move.
It's far from being a no-brainer though.
According to a source spoken to by Heyman, the White Sox would need to be "blown away" to trade Abreu. The Yankees still have enough top prospects to wow the White Sox, but that price may be too steep for a first baseman who's already in his 30s and has only one arbitration-eligible season left after this year.
Furthermore, the Yankees already have plenty of right-handed power in the lineup, so Abreu is not an essential addition from that standpoint as well.
In all likelihood, the Yankees will give Bird another shot to be their long-term answer at first, and if he struggles or gets hurt again, they may look for a low-cost lefty bat at the trading deadline or even wait until the waiver wire starts to fill up with options in August instead of giving up top prospects for Abreu.
More news about the latest MLB trade rumors should be made available soon.
