The New York Yankees are heading into a very interesting offseason with Robinson Cano on the market and with Alex Rodriguez's future up in the air, the team has looked towards other options at third base in the infield and one could be St. Louis Cardinals World Series hero David Freese.
According to the NY Daily News, the Yankees have been discussing a "potential" deal with the Cardinals for Freese, as the team could use Matt Carpenter at third base and the move would be one of insurance and adding talent, as the team does not know what will happen with A-Rod and his suspension for the Biogenesis scandal. The deal is in very early discussions and the team has not made clear what they would want from the Yankees, but based on the way he has played, the team likely will not give him up easily, but they would have replacements at second if Carpenter moves, including with Kolten Wong.
The Yankees have no idea what will happen with Rodriguez, but the team likely will assume they will lose him for some amount of time. Reports have the team signing Brendan Ryan back as insurance for Derek Jeter and now they could add Freese to third base and A-Rod could still potentially play at DH anyway. Freese was solid but not stellar last season while hitting .262 with nine home runs in 138 games played and he has had injury issues in the past. According to the Daily News, the team almost traded for Freese from the Padres after trying to deal Kei Igawa, but money played a part in that and now Freese could come to the Yankees after being a hero in 2011 while hitting .348 in the World Series.
The Yankees have money to spend and they may re-sign Robinson Cano and on top of that they are looking at Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran, while it appears that Curtis Granderson will be on his way out of town after declining the qualifying offer from the team. The team has also looked at Eric Chavez and Michael Young as possible third base replacements and while Rodriguez may be with the team next season, the Yankees have no idea if that will happen and they need to do something just in case.
The Yankees have long been saying they want to get under the luxury tax number, but that may not be possible now with the money they may spend. The team has Cano to deal with and if not, they will need to replace him at second base and other questions include closer as well as in the rotation. Rodriguez's situation will dictate things a bit, but the Yankees have to assume they will be without him for at least part of the year.