The New York Yankees are set to enter spring training with some question marks at the first base position.
After buying out Anthony Rizzo’s contract, making him a free agent, the Yankees turned around and signed former MVP Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year deal.
Considering his age and the fact that he’s coming off a down season, it’s very likely that Goldschmidt is going to platoon with Ben Rice, a former top prospect coming off his rookie season.
While that’s currently the plan for the Yankees, Rucker Haringey of FanSided predicted that Rice would be one of three players to fail to make the Opening Day roster while suggesting the 25-year-old as a trade candidate.
“Rice could also be an intriguing trade candidate for a team that’s looking to roll the dice on a left-handed batter with some power. He also can offer positional versatility. Rice almost exclusively played as a catcher in the minors before being converted to first-base to help fill in for Anthony Rizzo last year,” Haringey wrote.
Rice had an intriguing showing early on in his MLB debut during the summer, but his bat cooled off tremendously toward the end of the season, leading to a benching once Rizzo came back from injury.
In 178 plate appearances, Rice hit .171 with seven home runs and a .613 OPS. His biggest issue came against lefties where he posted a .483 OPS.
The Yankees are high on Rice so it would be a shocking move to see him traded before Opening Day. With that said, he shouldn’t keep the Yankees from upgrading a bigger need at second or third base.
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