Insider Names These First Basemen as Potential Trade Options For Yankees

The New York Yankees acquired versatile left-handed slugger Cody Bellinger in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, but they're still in search of a first baseman.

Although Bellinger plays a strong first base, the Yankees could instead stick him in the outfield in either center or left, which will allow AL MVP winner Aaron Judge to move back to right field.

The Yankees are reportedly engaged with a number of free agent first basemen including Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana. However, they could explore the trade market to fill the void left at the position after exercising Anthony Rizzo's $6 million buyout.

When asked about potential trade options the Yankees could go after on Foul Territory, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic agreed that Nathaniel Lowe of the Texas Rangers is an option as well as Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians.

@Ken_Rosenthal says that Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Naylor could be first base options for the @Yankees pic.twitter.com/SrFr6nCFAp
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 19, 2024

That being said, Rosenthal noted that while Naylor is available, Cleveland doesn't need to move him after offloading Andres Gimenez's contract to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the month.

Rosenthal also believes that whatever the Yankees proceed in doing this winter will ultimately dictate Bellinger's position in 2025.

This means that if they bring in another outfielder, Bellinger could wind up being the first baseman in the Bronx.

Regarding Lowe, the 29-year-old would give the Yankees' lineup another left-handed bat in addition to Bellinger. He also plays strong defense at first, posting 7 Outs Above Average in 2024,

Lowe doesn't hit for as much power as a typical first baseman, having only slugged 20 or more home runs in one season in his career, but is productive offensively overall (.272/.356/.433, .789 OPS career). Not to mention, he is under team control at a favorable price for the next two seasons.

As for Naylor, he is also a lefty hitter that is coming off a stellar season, where he smashed a career-high 31 homers and drove in 108 RBI in 152 games. His slash line in 2024 was .243/.320/.456 with a .756 OPS, which is down from the .308/.354/.489 and .843 OPS mark he set the year before.

Naylor comes along with only one year left of control and had a rough campaign defensively with -6 defensive runs saved at first base.

There is also some history between Naylor and the Yankees due to his "rock the baby" celebration after homering off ace Gerrit Cole in the 2022 ALDS. This led to Naylor being taunted by Yankees fans. But, the fanbase would likely get over this if Naylor joined the pinstripes.

It is still a realistic possibility that the Yankees sign a first baseman off the free agent market. But Lowe and Naylor make sense as potential trade options.