ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 29: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees hits an RBI sacrifice bunt ... [+]
There’s an adage in football that says a team with two starting quarterbacks really has none at all. The same could be said of third base for the New York Yankees, who will let Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu, and Oswald Peraza contend for a spot in the starting lineup.
The Yankees entered the offseason with more holes than a typical American League champion. They patched their lineup with outfielder Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt—though they won’t make up for the loss of Juan Soto—and added starter Max Fried and relievers Fernando Cruz and Devin Williams to their staff. The biggest hole they neglected has been third base.
The LeMahieu Dilemma
The player they would prefer to win the job would be LeMahieu, if for no other reason than to justify the $30 million they owe him over the next two seasons. New York originally signed him to a two-year deal in 2019, during which he batted .327 and .364, leading the league in batting average in 2020. They re-signed him the following offseason to a six-year, $90 million deal that has aged poorly.
In the first three years of his current deal, he posted a .268 batting average with a solid .345 on-base percentage, but it was offset by his miniscule .375 slugging percentage. Then the bottom fell out in 2024 when he hit .204/.269/.259, battled injuries, and played only 67 games. He hasn’t played in a postseason game since 2020.
Now that he’s 36, it’s hard to argue there’s anything keeping him on an MLB roster other than his contract. He didn’t look like a major leaguer last season, especially since his once-stellar infield defense also regressed. Unless he turns back the clock, the Yankees will have a hard time justifying keeping him and may have to release him, eating his salary for this year and next.
Young Yankees
Of the two younger players in the competition for playing time, Cabrera has the most experience. He has played 267 games for the Yankees since 2022, lining up at every position except catcher. (He even made a pitching appearance last season.) The soon-to-be 26-year-old has proven useful in a utility role, but his career .233/.291/.352 batting line doesn’t warrant a starting job.
As a switch hitter, he could serve in a platoon role since LeMahieu and Peraza both bat right-handed. Cabrera is strongest swinging from the left side, hitting .268/.320/.409 against right-handed pitching. He even stays in the left-handed batters box against certain lefty pitchers. Facing southpaws, he batted right-handed 67 times and left-handed 17 times last season.
At 24 years old, Peraza is the youngest and least experienced of the three candidates. He has only 259 plate appearances with the Yankees, including just 11 in 2024 as he dealt with injuries in the minor leagues. He comes with strong prospect pedigree, having been ranked a consensus top 100 prospect prior to the 2022 and 2023 campaigns as a defense-first shortstop with some power. Now that Anthony Volpe has taken hold of the shortstop job, Peraza will need to move his stellar glove to third to receive playing time.
Despite playing only four games in MLB last year, this is a make-or-break year for Peraza. The Yankees exhausted all of his minor-league option years, which means they can no longer send him to the minors without passing him through waivers. In other words, he should finally get the opportunity to spend a full season in New York, but whether he plays every day or comes off the bench is yet to be determined.
