The New York Yankees have watched their once dominant lead in the AL East diminish due in part to their annual June slump. While the Yankees can still be considered favorites to make it back to the playoffs, this is still a team with flaws.
One of their main areas of concern is the infield, particularly at third base. Oswaldo Cabrera, is out for the season, and the team has played Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third primarily to replace him once an aging D.J. LeMahieu returned from his own injury. That has left the team using the aging D.J. LeMahieu at second. In fact, Chisholm told The Athletic Yankees reporter Chris Kirschner that "everybody knows I’m a second baseman," and that the team told him in Spring Training that they would be playing him at second. But Chisholm said that he's open to doing hatever helps the team in.
Look, the time of LeMahieu being a starting infielder has come and gone, and everyone besides the Yankees knows it. So, they should target a third baseman at the trade deadline at the end of this month to move Chisholm back to second.
The Athletic's Jim Bowden published an article (subscription required) of MLB executives predicting the players most likely to be traded at the deadline. Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez is listed as the fourth most likely position player to be dealt, and the Yankees were listed as a suitor.
Eugenio Suarez could be the third baseman Yankees, Jazz Chisholm were looking for
"Suárez has had a tremendous first half, belting 26 home runs with 69 RBIs, so his value is high despite being an impending free agent," writes Bowden. "Arizona could swap him in a buyer-to-buyer type of trade for a starting pitcher or impact reliever. The Diamondbacks’ top prospect, Jordan Lawlar, could replace Suárez, 33, at the hot corner if he’s traded. A reunion with the Mariners or a deal with the Yankees, who could then move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base, would make a lot of sense."
There aren't many stout third base options for the Yankees on Bowden's list, with the lone exception being Alex Bregman, who is unlikely to be dealt by the Boston Red Sox. Of course, this is all dependent on the Diamondbacks dealing their players. They have a ton of talent, but it's up to them if they want to continue to push for a playoff spot or not. As of the morning of July 2, the Diamondbacks are 43-42 on the year, 10.5 games back of first place in the NL West and three games back of the final NL Wild Card spot.
Suarez is set to be a free agent this winter, so if Arizona wants to get any sort of return, now is the time.
This season, Suarez recorded a .254 batting average, a .324 on-base percentage, a .564 slugging percentage, 26 home runs, 51 runs, 69 RBI, and 77 hits in 303 at-bats.
If the Yankees want to construct the best possible roster to return to the World Series, and actually win it this time, they need to fix the infield by adding a third baseman. LeMahieu is a bench option at best at this point, and Chisholm should be playing second, the position he's played for the majority of his career. Bringing in a slugger like Suarez to play in Yankee Stadium just makes too much sense.