Via Nick Cafardo: The Yankees have inquired about the availability of Chase Headley. Padres GM Josh Byrnes recently told Peter Gammons his third baseman isn’t available, but that is typical GM speak. Even if he is available they would say he isn’t just to create leverage. For what it’s worth, Bill Madden reported last week San Diego has started listening to offers for their franchise cornerstone.
Headley, 28, hit .286/.376/.498 (145 wRC+) with 31 homers and 17 steals last season, including .308/.386/.592 (170 wRC+) with 23 homers and ten steals after the All-Star break. The switch-hitter is an above-average defender at third and is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player through 2014. He’ll earn $8.575M this summer. The Yankees did not contact the Padres about Headley at the Winter Meetings following the news of Alex Rodriguez’s hip surgery, but I guess they’re a little more desperate for offense these days. The cost would be substantial — two top prospects plus one or two lesser pieces? — but Headley is a star-caliber player in his prime years with multiple years of team control remaining.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.