Yankees Interested in Re-signing Headley

glennhoffmania

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Heyman
 
There are strong indications the Yankees may have interest in bringing back Chase Headley, and if so, that what would appear to signify real concerns over Alex Rodriguez's ability to be the team's starting third baseman going forward.
 
Should the Yankees sign Headley (or someone else for third base), it would seem that Rodriguez's more likely main role would be that of a designated hitter.
 
 
The idea to re-sign Headley makes perfect sense in that it's hard to know whether Rodriguez will be able to man the demanding position on a full-time basis after a full year off on repaired hips in the year he will turn 40. However, a DH role would seem to represent something of a departure from manager Joe Girardi's public pronouncements that he expects A-Rod to be the team's third baseman in 2015.
 
 
Headley has told people around the Yankees that he never would have envisioned he'd enjoy playing in New York before going there and actually enjoying it following his trade from the Padres.
 
Headley will benefit in free agency from no qualifying offer (players traded in mid-year are ineligible to be offered the qualifying offer). But after posting only decent offensive numbers since his huge second half in 2012, he also shouldn't expect to get a monster multi-year deal at this point, certainly nothing close to the nine-figure number he might have approached had he stayed within the 2012 range. He led the NL in RBI that year.
 
Headley played excellent defense for the Yankees, who have infield issues galore. Six years after having all-time great infield productivity en route to their 2009 World Series title, the Yankees have problems throughout the infield. There are openings at shortstop and second base, and first baseman Mark Teixeira has been breaking down and slowing down in recent years.
 
 
 

jon abbey

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I read this earlier, but didn't link it here since there is absolutely no source citing at all by Heyman. If that isn't bad enough, he cites Nick Cafardo for his intel on A-Rod. 

NY is going to have some decisions to make this offseason, I increasingly think they are going to stay away from the top tier of SPs (Lester, Scherzer, Shields), but after last offseason and their rash of illogical big-ticket moves, who the hell knows anymore. 
 

TheYaz67

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I thought the plan to keep Carlos Beltran healthy next year was to DH him?  By all means run creaky old Carlos out to right field all year and see how well that goes....
 

jon abbey

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They have Prado too, in the mix for RF/3B/2B. I'm going to bump the 2015 thread as I have some thoughts. 
 

jon abbey

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I think when they say they have A-Rod slotted in at DH, what it means is that they can't count on him for anything and certainly not for 3B. It doesn't mean he'll be the everyday DH. 
 

moondog80

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Papelbon's Poutine said:
 
Yeah, it seems like allowing ARod, Tex and Beltran to rotate through that DH slot would benefit all three. I guess Headley (or Arod even) could learn to spell Tex at 1B, but I dunno. 
 
Headley did play 7 games at 1B for NY this year, as though they had that in mind.  He also played 196 games in LF for the Padres.  If he can play all 4 corner spots, he's the perfect player for them given the issues of the guys you mentioned.  
 

jon abbey

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Again, they already have Prado for that (if he's not the everyday 2B anyway), and Gardner is the everyday LF. If they get Headley, he will be the everyday 3B otherwise I think he'll sign elsewhere. 
 

Lowrielicious

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Headley has already voiced some concerns about playing time in NY and positional preference:
 
http://nypost.com/2014/09/29/ichiro-makes-mystery-of-yankees-future-with-3000-in-sights/
 
“I know they have a player under contract,” Headley said in response to a question about Rodriguez. “We’ll see how that shakes out. We’ll see what my role would look like.”
He made it clear he considers himself an everyday player — ideally at third base.
“I feel like that’s what I do the best,” said Headley, who also played first base this season. “I want to be a guy that plays. At what position? Obviously, third base I think is my strongest position. I don’t want to be a part-time guy.”
 

EvilEmpire

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It would be nice if Rodriguez could play 1B. Primary DH with some time at 1B and Headley as the fulltime 3B.