When Isiah Kiner-Falefa joined the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees lost their super-utility player. The Pinstripes found him extremely valuable, especially after their injury-ravaged 2023 season. Now that IKF is gone, will Oswaldo Cabrera replace him as the new super utility player of the Yankees?

After putting up a tremendous impact in 2022, Cabrera’s 2023 left much to desire. Though he improved his performance by the end, was it enough? With the Yankees still looking to strengthen their pitching, could Cabrera become a viable trading chip?

How the New York Yankees can use Oswaldo Cabrera

Oswaldo Cabrera was one of the Yankees’ brightest young guns in 2022. His purple patch coincided with the Yankees staging a comeback in the later stages of the season. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Cabrera was one of the reasons for the Yankees reaching the ALCS in 2022. With fans expecting more of the same from Cabrera in 2023, things took a turn south for him.

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Cabrera’s form nosedived last season to such an extent that by June, he was averaging just .195. The Yankees sent him back to Triple-A, only bringing him back because of an injury crisis. To the slugger’s credit, he staged a good comeback and became a trustworthy utility player, though he could never touch his 2022 highs.

This has brought us to now – what is Cabrera’s future? The youngster isn’t an offensive threat currently. In 2023, his fly ball decreased by nearly 11%, showing a lack of base hits and home runs. With IKF’s absence, Oswald Peraza becomes a top infield utility player and Trent Grisham will provide the outfield depth. Where does Cabrera fit in?

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There’s a huge chance that instead of becoming the new super-utility player, Cabrera gets demoted to the Triple-A leagues until further notice. The intense competition in the Pinstripes doesn’t bode well for the 24-year-old.

The intense utility competition in the Pinstripes

Though Oswald Peraza increasingly looks like the first-choice infield utility player of the Yankees, 2023 wasn’t his shining point. A case can be made that by the end of the season, Oswaldo Cabrera was doing much better than Peraza. Surprisingly, Peraza’s name has been called as a possible trading chip for the Yankees. If that happens, Cabrera easily becomes the top utility player.

Internally the competition is between Peraza and Cabrera. While the Yankees can always sign another utility player, it doesn’t look like a priority of the Bombers currently. But both of these players will have to do a lot to fill the gap that IKF left. It’ll be interesting to see how the Yankees look in 2024.

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