Chase Headley isn’t the big free-agent fish New York Yankees fans have been waiting for. His signing won’t splash across the headlines, and he won’t single-handedly carry New York back to the top of the American League East.
But by inking their incumbent third baseman to a four-year, $52 million pact, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Yankees solidified their infield and struck a reasonable deal to boot.
Headley posted a pedestrian .229/.296/.355 slash line in 77 games with the San Diego Padres last year. However, after a trade to New York and away from spacious Petco Park, he hit .262 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 58 contests.
The 30-year-old switch-hitter isn’t likely to repeat his monstrous 2012 campaign, when he clubbed 31 home runs, drove in 115 and finished fifth in the MVP voting. But there’s reason to believe his bat will benefit from a full season at Yankee Stadium.
Then there’s Headley’s defense, which is widely regarded as superlative. He won a Gold Glove in 2012—if that award means anything to you.
The advanced statistics like him, too; his 28 Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) was tops among all MLB position players in 2014, per FanGraphs.
So, the Yankees got themselves a nice two-way player, and he was a (relative) bargain.
Compare Headley’s contract to the one the Boston Red Sox just handed Pablo Sandoval. Yes, Sandoval’s two years younger and is the superior hitter—but not by a landslide.
Sandoval hit just three more home runs than Headley last season and finished with a slightly lower OBP. Plus, Headley has the clear edge with the leather.
Yet Sandoval got five years and $95 million from Boston with a $17 million club option for a sixth year and a $5 million buyout, per Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
That’s $100 million in guaranteed cash, or nearly twice as much as New York shelled out for Headley. Is Sandoval twice the player? (No, that’s not a weight joke.)
In addition to spending smart—and really, how often can you say that about the Yankees?—New York shored up its infield for 2015.
Joining Headley on the left side will be slick-fielding shortstop Didi Gregorius, whom the Yankees acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team swap.
Versatile Martin Prado, who hit .282 with 12 home runs last year, figures to get the bulk of the action at second base.
Mark Teixeira suffered a MASH unit’s worth of injuries in 2014 but is “definitely an everyday first baseman” in the eyes of general manager Brian Cashman, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. In case he isn’t, Headley does have experience at first.
Then there’s that Alex Rodriguez fellow, set to return from his season-long performance-enhancing-drug suspension. A-Rod could work his way into the infield discussion, but right now, the soon-to-be 40-year-old former superstar is a big, crooked question mark.
Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com states it bluntly, opining that “except for spot duty, we’ve probably seen the last of Alex Rodriguez at third base for the Yankees…”
Simply put, Headley gives New York a viable, non-Rodriguez option on the hot-corner depth chart. That’s worth a lot by itself. Cashman discussed the importance of Headley being in New York with Kuty shortly before the signing was announced.
“He was a tremendous acquisition in the second half,” Cashman said. “A great leader. A tremendous defender. A switch-hitter with great discipline. He kind of checks off every box that we’d like a prototypical Yankee to look like.”
Headley wasn’t the biggest fish in the free-agent sea. But as they embark on the post-Jeter era and try to chart a course back to the postseason, the Bombers should be glad they reeled him in.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.
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