New York Yankees: Options to replace Greg Bird at first base

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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 18: Aaron Judge (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Aaron Judge

I know, I know, it’ll never happen. But let’s just think about it for a second. The New York Yankees could be in need of a first baseman and have a crowded outfield. Aaron Judge plays outfield but also played first base in high school.

Again, I know, high school was a long time ago but Judge didn’t stop playing first base because he couldn’t or didn’t want to. He went to Fresno State, who already had a starting first baseman, and they wanted to get Judge on the field right away.

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It would take some reps to get Judge back up to speed, especially at the major league level, but he wouldn’t be too far behind Billy McKinney and would likely be right on par with Miguel Andujar.

The idea of Judge moving to first base came up last season when Greg Bird’s season appeared to be over, but the idea of moving your MVP-caliber right fielder to a new position didn’t make sense. Well, now the Yankees have two MVP-caliber right fielders. They could move Judge to first base without seeing much, if any, decrease in right field production.

Having Judge play first and Giancarlo Stanton play right also opens up the designated hitter spot. Gary Sanchez could get some time off from behind the plate without taking his bat out of the lineup. Neil Walker and Tyler Wade could be in the lineup together. Andujar could get called up to serve as the everyday DH. Once Jacoby Ellsbury and/or Clint Frazier comes back from injury, they could get reps in the outfield with Judge out of that rotation.

I’ll admit that it won’t happen. But it doesn’t sound too bad right? It would only be for the short-term until Bird comes back anyway. If nothing else, the possibility of Judge playing first base makes him even more valuable to the New York Yankees.

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Hopefully Greg Bird’s foot injury won’t keep him out longer than the expected 6-8 weeks. The New York Yankees lineup is that much scarier with a healthy Bird in it. However, with Bird missing time, the Bronx Bombers have plenty of quality options to replace him at first base and their loaded offense should keep on rolling.

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