Some Other Free Agent Options for the Yankees, in Case They Don’t Sign Prince Fielder

ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 13: Prince Fielder #28 of the Milwaukee Brewers gestures after he hit a double in the top of the fourth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium on October 13, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Prince Fielder.

In today’s Daily News, John Harper writes that “you can’t rule out the possibility that [Prince] Fielder could wind up a Yankee.” In his scenario, if the Yankees lost CC Sabathia and traded Jesus Montero for a pitcher, it’s possible they’d throw money at Fielder to become the team’s full-time DH. In fact, the News really wants you to know that the Yankees are a potential landing spot for Fielder. From another article today, about how Fielder will get paid this off-season, despite concerns about his weight: “Someone, whether it is the Yankees or Cubs or another bidder, will award Fielder with a contract bigger than his belly.” 

Yes, we wrote yesterday that trading Montero — which again, we don’t think will happen — could change what the Yankees look to do on the free-agent market. But signing an All-Star first baseman in his prime seems pretty unlikely when he wouldn’t even be able to play every day. Remember, they already have a first baseman (making plenty of money himself) and would need to give a lot of days at DH to the left side of their infield, even if Montero was out of the picture. As Craig Calcaterra writes over at Hardball Talk, a side effect of the Yankees’ early exit from the playoffs “is that a bunch of New York reporters now have nothing to do except to come up with silly trade and free agent ideas.” He’s right —  and it’s pretty easy too! Here’s what else we came up with, off the top of our head:

• They could sign Jose Reyes, let Derek Jeter manage, and move Joe Girardi to catcher, where he can mentor Montero.

• They could sign David Ortiz to serve as the regular DH, then trade Montero to the Red Sox for Ryan Lavarnway and a bunch of really awesome headphones.

• They could sign Albert Pujols to serve as the No. 2 starter in their rotation.

• Or they could throw a bunch of money at CC Sabathia, then try and do the same with C.J. Wilson.

We suspect they’ll do the last of those.

Some Other Free Agent Options for the Yankees