Bring Back Peter O’Brien

The New York Yankees are in the midst of a youth movement so wouldn’t it make sense to bring back one of the young guys they traded away not too long ago? I mean, it makes sense to me as there is no such thing as a bad minor league deal so what are the Yankees waiting for? Bring back Peter O’Brien.

O’Brien was the Yankees second round pick back in the 2012 MLB First Year Players Draft and he toiled around in the Yankees farm system until the 2014 season when Yankees GM Brian Cashman traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Martin Prado deal. Prado was nice for the half-season he was in the Bronx but O’Brien was full of potential with his heavy bat and impressive batting average numbers in the minor leagues so losing a talent like his hurt a bit.

O’Brien destroyed Triple-A pitching in 2015 which led to his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks and continued to crush minor league pitching in 2016 but for whatever reason that never translated into much success at the MLB level. Sure in eight games in 2015 he finished with a .400 batting average but in 2016 the former catcher and third baseman managed just a .141 batting average with a .571 OPS with five home runs in 64 at-bats leading to the team designating him for assignment this winter.

O’Brien’s numbers at the MLB level are ugly, no one can deny that, but he’s still just 26-years old and won’t be 27-years old until the heat of the summer in 2017 leaving some upside for the former Yankees prospect. With O’Brien having experience at the catcher position as well as first base, third base, right field and left field the Yankees may want to keep him around at the Triple-A level just in case an injury or three happens this coming season. The Yankees, and specifically manager Joe Girardi, love flexibility and versatility and O’Brien brings a ton of both with his heavy, power-hitting bat.

What’s the worst that could happen with a minor league deal with an invite to spring training? He flops? So what? Now what’s the best thing that could happen? Well he could beat out Tyler Austin for one of the final Yankees bench spots and he could take advantage of the small dimensions inside Yankee Stadium giving the Yankees a legitimate power hitting threat off the bench. All for a minor league deal and potentially $507,500. Sounds like a win-win to me. Get it done.

The Short History of the Yankees & Diamondbacks Trading

I watched the YES Network’s Hot Stove episode the other night with Didi Gregorius being interviewed by the great and very humble Jack Curry and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great interview and it really cemented my beliefs in Gregorius that he is humble as well, a hard worker and in love with the game of baseball. While watching I got thinking of the now numerous times that the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks have hooked up in trades since their inception and decided to showcase them here just for fun. I may even judge a trade or two, who knows. Also I will simply hit the high spots, I will not delve into every single minor transaction between the two teams because frankly that would be boring and it would take all day. Anyway, about those trades…

Remember when the Yankees traded Raul Mondesi to Arizona and cash for Jon-Mark Sprowl, David Dellucci and Bret Prinz? Yeah me either but apparently it happened on July 29, 2003. I remember the name Prinz but I truly do not remember Dellucci wearing pinstripes, I guess I’m getting old.

Remember the big three team trade between Arizona, New York and the Detroit Tigers that saw pieces like Curtis Granderson come to New York, Ian Kennedy and other head to Arizona and Austin Jackson and Phil Coke head to Detroit? As hard as 40 home run power is to find these days it’s hard to watch Kennedy win 20 games in Arizona and make a Cy Young Award attempt while Granderson gets hit by two pitches and misses most of the 2013 season.

The Peter O’Brien and Martin Prado trades are still up in the air because O’Brien is still in the minors and Prado has been traded away, with others, for Garrett Jones and Nathan Eovaldi. Obviously the Didi Gregorius trade is still getting an incomplete grade and will for at least three to five more seasons.

For some reason Brian Cashman loves hooking up with Arizona in a trade and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. Paul Goldschmidt, just saying.