With time fast running out on the 2024-2025 Major League Baseball offseason, the New York Yankees are still looking to solve their infield depth problem. They made no attempt to retain second baseman Gleyber Torres, failing even to extend the seven-year veteran a qualifying offer. Yet, they apparently had no plan to replace Torres and now badly need to pick up an infielder in time for the season to start.
Prior to to last season the Yankees made an attempt to sign a veteran infield utility player who at that time already had a World Series trophy on his mantelpiece. At the time, that infielder, Enrique “Kiké” Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers, chose to go back to the warmer climate of Los Angeles where he was in his second tenure with the Dodgers.
Hernandez was selected in the sixth round of the 2009 MLB amateur draft by the Houston Astros out of American Military Academy in Puerto Rico. But almost as soon as he made it to the majors in 2014, Houston traded Hernandez to the Miami Marlins. After that season, the Marlins turned around and dealt Hernandez to the Dodgers where he found his home for the next six seasons, culminating in a World Series ring to cap off the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
He then signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox, who in 2023 traded him back to the Dodgers. He re-signed with Los Angeles for the 2024 season, despite the Yankees’ overtures, and ended up collecting his second World Series championship.
Yankees Pursued Hernandez in 2023 But Were Rebuffed
As the 2025 season approaches, Empire Sports Media founder Alexander Wilson suggested Saturday the Yankees might take another run at Hernandez who is now a free agent for the third time at age 33, but has not yet found a new home.
“Hernández’s 2024 season was not particularly inspiring offensively, but his defensive versatility makes him an intriguing option,” wrote Wilson. “Over 126 games, he hit .229/.281/.373 with 12 home runs, 42 RBIs, a 19.6 percent strikeout rate, and a 6.9 percent walk rate, good for an 83 wRC+. These numbers placed him 17 percent below average at the plate, but his ability to play nearly every defensive position adds value.”
Another baseball analyst, John Sparaco of SI.com, also highlighted Hernandez’s defensive versatility as a quality that could play to the Yankees’ needs.
“Hernández has played every position except catcher during his 11-year big-league career. While his versatility is valuable to any team, his 304 games of experience at second base (17 DRS) and 116 games at third base (2 DRS) are particularly significant,” write Sparaco. “These positions could both be viewed as areas of need for the Yankees.”
DRS stands for “Defensive Runs Saved,” and is a measure of a fielder’s value to his team.
Would Signing Hernandez be Worth it for the Yankees?
With the Torres role yet to be filled and the Yankees apparently reluctant to make a major free agent signing, or complete a trade to fill it, Hernandez could man the position at least until a more permanent replacement for Torres can be found.
But would signing Hernandez, who is coming off of a $4 million, one-year contract with the Dodgers, actually be worth it. In the final analysis, Wilson is skeptical.
“New York could easily wait until the summer trade deadline to bolster their depth, leaving more flexibility to address immediate concerns and secure higher-impact players when needed,” he wrote. “Hernández’s defensive versatility is undeniable, but for a team like the Yankees, the timing and fit might not align with their greater ambitions this offseason.”
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin
