Via Bruce Levine: The Yankees and Cubs discussed infielder Darwin Barney at some point earlier this offseason. He speculates the two sides could reconnect now that Robinson Cano and Omar Infante have picked new teams, indicating the talks weren’t particularly recent.
Barney, 28, is pretty much the second base version of Brendan Ryan. He’s a terrible hitter (67 wRC+ in 1,799 career plate appearances) but a standout defender, a legitimate 10+ runs saved guy. Matt Swartz projects Barney to earn $2.1M in his first trip through arbitration this winter, which is nuts. If you’re going to spend that kinda cash on another no-hit/all-glove infielder, just sign Mark Ellis and keep whatever prospect you’d have to send to Chicago. At least Ellis hits lefties.
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