New York Yankees: Options to replace Greg Bird at first base
By Sean Dyer
Neil Walker, Miguel Andujar, and Austin Romine
When you think of this trio of players, you don’t think of any of them as first basemen. Neil Walker is a second baseman. Miguel Andujar is a third baseman. Austin Romine is a catcher. However, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Walker has 17 career games at first base under his belt (compared to 1,008 at second base) so the position wouldn’t be entirely new to him. He’s taken reps at first base this spring after signing with the New York Yankees and he’s prepared to play wherever he’s needed. Walker has hit .267 with three RBI in six games this spring.
Andujar could have the best bat of all the potential first base replacements. After hitting .315 with 36 doubles, 16 home runs, and 82 RBI between Double and Triple-A last season, Andujar hit .571 in five major league games including going 3-4 with four RBI in his big league debut.
The problem with Andujar has always been his defense. He’s still working on his defense at third base, so learning first base may not come easy. Brian Cashman said Andujar would play about 20 percent of his reps at first base in the minor leagues this year to learn the position. Obviously, Andujar hasn’t logged enough time at first for the Yankees to trust him in the major leagues.
Andujar’s bat may force the Yankees to promote him early in the season and his ability to play first base would only expedite the process, especially if Greg Bird is out.
Romine does his best work behind the plate, but he’s logged 20 career games at first base, including seven starts, and has a 1.000 fielding percentage. He has experience at first and would not be a defensive liability.
Romine is a career .220 hitter, but when given regular at-bats, he has a decent stick. When Gary Sanchez went down in April last season, Romine hit .314 for the month. I’m not saying Romine would hit .314 as the everyday first baseman in Bird’s absence, but I think he’d hit higher than .220. And as we said, the Yankees lineup will survive without Bird, even if Romine was hitting around .220 in the No. 9 hole.