The New York Yankees traded infielder Martin Prado last week and now have a vacancy at the second base position, while the Pittsburgh Pirates are actively solving infield issues of their own and might sign a foreign player.
Prior to the Prado trade, it looked as if New York was going to have an infield consisting of Mark Teixeira at first base, Prado at second, Didi Gregorius at shortstop and Chase Headley at third. Now with Prado's departure, there's a glaring need at second and it's believed minor leaguers Jose Pirela and Rob Refsnyder will compete for the job.
"It's a competition right now and I'll evaluate any other opportunities that legitimately present themselves,'' Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman said, via John Harper of the New York Daily News. "But clearly if spring training started today, that would be the competition."
Pirela played three games at the professional level last season after spending the entire year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 25-year-old slashed .305/.351/.441 with 10 home runs, 60 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 130 games and seemingly impressed manager Joe Girardi during the short time he spent with the team.
"If you look at the three games that Pirela had in Boston, he made every type of play: a slow roller, a ball to his right, a ball to his left, a turn-and-throw play and a tag play at second and showed that he has the ability to do it," Girardi said, via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.
Refsnyder, 23, also spent most of the season at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He and Pirela each played at least 60 games at second base, but Pirela was moved around more often because he can play shortstop and the outfield. Refsnyder was promoted to Triple-A after batting .342/.385/.548 with 6 home runs and 30 RBIs in 60 games with Double-A Trenton. At Scranton Wilkes-Barre, he slashed .300/.389/.456 with 8 home runs and 33 RBIs in 77 games. Earlier this month a source told Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York that "There are a lot of people in [the Yankees'] organization who want to give Refsnyder a shot. They think he's [their] best hitter."
Speaking of middle infielders, Jung-ho Kang could soon be making his way to the United States. In a big surprise the Pittsburgh Pirates were the mystery team that won the bidding for the Korean shortstop, who they now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with. The Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization accepted the $5,002,015 bid for Kang on Friday, but it wasn't known who submitted the bid until today when Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the news.
The 27-year-old had a career year in 2014 after slashing .356/.459/.739 with 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in 117 games. It'll be interesting to see how the Pirates use him since many scouts have viewed him as more of a second or third baseman in the MLB. If the two sides fail to agree on a contract within 30 days, Kang will return to the Heroes and the $5 million will go back to the Pirates.
