A few days back it was reported the New York Yankees were interested in Atlanta Braves top prospect Jose Pereza. However, it doesn't seem like the Braves are receptive to that development.
"We have no interest whatsoever in trading Jose Peraza," Braves assistant general manager John Coppolella told Mark Bowman of MLB.com. "Teams scout top prospects all the time, as we do other team's top prospects. It was just a case where one of their scouts was sent to watch one of our guys."
New York sent a scout down to Georgia to check out the second baseman because they might be concerned about their long-term plan at the position. They currently have a combination of Stephen Drew, Jose Pirela and Gregorio Petit getting reps at second base as well as prospect Rob Refsnyder working on improving his defense at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
However, Refsnyder's defensive woes were glaring during spring training (six errors in 23 games) and he has already made four errors in his first eight games in the minors. This has led some to believe the Yankees' organization doesn't view Refsnyder as their long-term solution at second, which explains their interest in Peraza.
Despite Coppolella confirming the team has no desire to trade Peraza, the team also said the same thing about closer Craig Kimbrel, who they eventually dealt to the San Diego Padres a few hours before Opening Day.
Although the situation is different because Peraza is a coveted middle infielder while Kimbrel was a closer on a non-contender with $34 million remaining on his contract, the Braves already have 24-year-old second baseman Jace Peterson, who they acquired from the Padres in another trade this offseason. He's currently batting .241/.313/.310 with four runs scored, one RBI and one stolen base in 11 games, but is bound to improve.
It's unknown what the Braves' long-term plan for their infield is, but with shortstop Andrelton Simmons and Peterson currently occupying spots in the middle infield, Peraza's promotion is blocked for the foreseeable future. Could they look to improve their outfield with their small infield logjam?
"There is no doubt that the Braves will be looking for outfielders that could fill the lineup over the next few years, and the Yanks have an impressive outfield prospect in Aaron Judge, who might be Major League-ready at some point next year," adds Bowman.
The Yankees covet their prospects because the organization vowed to build through the farm system after signing a number of players to ill-advised costly long-term contracts and having no prospects to step up last season.
However, they have a glaring need at the second base position and may need to make a move to solidify their middle infield.
