Continuing our “What If” series for the 2016 season we head
out to Yankees camp to see what the team has in store and what the team has
planned if Chase Headley cannot remember how to play defense in 2016.
It is not out of the realm of possibilities that Chase
Headley can 100% forget how to play defense next season, we’ve seen it before
in New York and there is no reason we won’t see it again in New York on a long
enough time line. Headley was an elite defender at third base during his time
in San Diego but when he came to New York he seemingly forgot how to make the
routine plays and throws to first base. We’ve seen it before, remember Chuck
Knoblauch in the late-90’s with the Yankees for a reference point, and the
Yankees failed miserably at snapping Knoblauch out of his funk so what do they
do if the same happens to Headley?
The Yankees plan to snap Knoblauch out of his defensive funk
was to move him from second base to left field which proved to be an act in
futility. The difference between Headley and Knoblauch though is that Headley
has experience at other positions, the outfield, first base and even at
shortstop as an amateur, where Knoblauch had none. Headley could conceivably be
moved elsewhere but the only position you would truly want him at would be
first base. If the Yankees have a healthy Mark Teixeira that’s not an option so
what is Plan B?
Do you bench Headley thus opening the door for Starlin
Castro at third and Robert Refsnyder at second? Ideally that’s not ideal but
it’s a Plan B for a reason. Castro has about as much experience at third base
in his professional career as I have a professional career in Major League
Baseball, I don’t, so you would think having him take reps there in real game
experiences would be somewhere down the priority list for the Yankees and Joe
Girardi. You can’t play Refsnyder there either because he has less experience
than Castro or you can’t call up a prospect unless it’s Tyler Austin, who
hasn’t played third in quite some time, after trading away Rob Segedin and Eric
Jagielo.
So what do the Yankees do if Headley can’t play defense, and
keep in mind his bat isn’t going to carry him or justify his place in the
lineup and on the field either, and they feel like they need to make a move?
Are we ready for the Ronald Torreyes era at third base? The Donovan Solano era?
Do we make a trade for Martin Prado, again, and hope for the best, again? I
truly don’t know but I know one thing, I truly am worried. Hopefully Headley
used the offseason to clear his head and get out of his own way because if he
can’t play defense in 2016 then the entire team is in a world of hurt.
