THESE YANKS ARE TRULY HAL’S
Drury deal opens up infield options
TAMPA — Fro m the moment the Yankees sealed a deal to acquire Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, he was installed as the favorite to be the Opening Day third baseman.
Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman hinted that was the way to bet it but cautioned the competition isn’t dead.
“Nothing has been handed to anybody, so the competition will play its way out. I grew up in Kentucky and use a lot of [horse-racing] analogies. You have horses coming into races as favorites, and I think the experience that Drury has, along with his abilities, should give him a leg up going into this process,’’ Cashman said during the Yankees’ third fullscale workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “But we will wait and see what it looks like and how it plays out. But I don’t give up two prospects that we like a lot if we didn’t have conviction what Brandon Drury can do for us at the same time.’’
The Yankees sent second baseman Nick Solak to the Rays and right-hander Taylor Widener to the Diamondbacks to get Drury — who can play second, third and the outfield. First base has been mentioned, but he has one inning of big league work at that spot.
When Miguel Andujar left Stein brenner Field after Tuesday’s workout, he was the leader in the thirdbase derby. Upon entering Wednesday morning, there was a new favorite.
“We have to welcome him here in the clubhouse. That doesn’t change anything,” said the soon-to-be 23-year-old Andujar, who Cashman said had a bat that is ahead of his glove and arm. “I have to keep working hard. I have to focus and the addition of another teammate doesn’t change my plans.”
First-year manager Aaron Boone explained he has seen Drury play often and is high on the 25-year-old’s upside.
“We are excited about him. He is a guy who has already established himself a little bit at the major league level for a couple of years, but we are also getting a young player that we feel has a chance to f it in long-term,’’ Boone said .“We will probably focus more on third base, where last year [he was] pretty much mostly second base in Arizona. We feel he is really going to help us. Hopefully he is one of those guys we can help take another step and become more of an impact [player] than[ he] has already been.’’
The Yankees felt the same way about Didi Gregorius when they got him from Arizona, and that has worked out very well.
New Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin managed Drury in Triple-A and echoed what scouts said about the 6- foot -2, 210- pound right-handed batter, who has hit 29 homers and driven in 116 runs in the past two seasons while batting .275.
“He is intense, loves the game and f its right in. He has a hunger to win,’’ Nevin said. “He played all over for me and is a great athlete. Third base is his best spot.’’
Yet, Cash man didn’t hand the job to Drury in a conversation the two men had Tuesday evening.
“I told him it’s going to be a competition. We are primarily [going to] focus you on third base and see where it takes us,’’ Cashman said. “Nothing is going to be given to anybody. It’s a position that needs to be taken. You think going into the process [Drury] would have a leg up given the fact that he has had two years of major league experience he can fall back on, plus postseason experience. I think all those things will serve him well at his age and experience level.’’ Still … “You have a young buck who is an exciting talent. [Drury’s] acquisition provides us with more of the ability to feel better about the present ,’’ Cash man said. “Andujar is a high-end skilled player that we think is going to have a very long and successful career in the big leagues, and we believe that will be with us. This allows us, if we choose, to buy more time. If we choose not to, over time the flexibility Drury provides gives us a lot of choices because there is competition going on at second and competition at third.’’