As the New York Yankees continue to free fall out of first place in the AL East, with Wednesday's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays dropping them to 6-13 in their last 19 games, fans are looking for any reason to hope that a turnaround might be imminent. The good news is that GM Brian Cashman added another infielder to the mix on Thursday afternoon, an acknowledgment that the DJ LeMahieu/Oswald Peraza/Pablo Reyes triumvirate is simply unacceptable for a team with legitimate World Series aspirations.
The bad news is that, according to FanSided's Robert Murray, the player in question is Nicky Lopez, who was last seen tallying just one hit in 18 at-bats for the Chicago Cubs earlier this season.
The Yankees are signing veteran infielder Nicky Lopez, source said. Lopez, a Gold Glove finalist in 2024, gets a minor-league deal. https://t.co/WyW8TKSscZ
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 3, 2025
Lopez is a fresh body, at least, and unlike LeMahieu, he's 1) under the age of 35 and 2) a solid defender at both second and third base. Unfortunately, that's just about the only thing he's solid at: He's a lifetime .245/.310/.311 hitter, and he hasn't even approached league-average with the bat in four years now.
In other news, Lopez represents more of what the Yankees already have in-house, and he's just one more reminder that New York's infield is going to remain a crisis unless and until Cashman takes action at this month's trade deadline.
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Nicky Lopez won't do anything for the Yankees but stall until the trade deadline
Lopez adds at least some value as a talented and versatile defender and on the bases, two areas in which the Yankees have been lacking while trotting LeMahieu out there nearly every day. But that's more an indictment of LeMahieu than anything: The reality is that Lopez just isn't a Major League regular at this point in his career, and he's likely not even a Major League bench piece either; the only way to get by while being basically an automatic out at the plate is to be an elite defender, and while Lopez is good enough, he certainly isn't that.
At best, this is Cashman's attempt to try and catch lightning in a bottle for a couple of weeks, or at the very least try to prevent the sort of defensive and baserunning blunders that have plagued this recent losing stretch. But make no mistake: The Yankees aren't getting where they want to go until they add an impact player at the position, and that almost certainly won't happen until we get closer to July 31. The trade market just hasn't taken shape yet, especially in the infield, where we don't even know whether the Arizona Diamondbacks are willing to make Eugenio Suarez available.
And really, even if Cashman does land the third baseman this team so desperately needs, it's just the tip of the iceberg with what's gone wrong with this offense.
Yankees offense needs more than just another infielder
The offense doesn't shoulder all of the blame here. The pitching staff as a whole has come crashing back to Earth, due to both injury and regression. But that was to be expected: It's hard to keep up the pace New York's pitchers had set over a full season. It was incumbent on the lineup to pick up some of that slack, and they've failed miserably at doing so of late.
Yes, the Yankees are still currently second in baseball in team OPS. But that number drops to 13th since June 1, and things have gotten particularly bad with runners in scoring position. In those situations since June 1, New York has the fourth-worst OPS in the league, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox. Time and time again, the Yankees have given themselves chances to cash in and win games. And time and time again, they've failed to take advantage, whether early in the game or in extra innings.
Another infielder, one who can hit far better than Lopez, would certainly help. But it won't be a cure-all. The reality is that New York needs reinforcements and they need to learn to how to hit situationally, or they're going to be staring down another long, cold offseason.