Aaron Boone Makes It Clear What Position He Wants New York Yankees Star To Play

The New York Yankees have entered camp not quite knowing how their infield will look on Opening Day.

Third base continues to be the question mark after a busy offseason left that position as virtually the only spot on the roster that wasn't addressed, putting oft-injured DJ LeMahieu in prime position to start at the hot corner while Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves back to second base.

Shifting Chisholm to the keystone and away from third base is something the Yankees want to do.

Manager Aaron Boone discussed what position he envisions for Chisholm, and he made it clear where he wants to slot the star slugger.

"Right now, I have him locked in at second, but that can always change," he said per Greg Joyce of The New York Post.

What could cause things to change is if LeMahieu gets injured during camp or struggles mightily with his movement. Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera would also have to perform poorly during the spring as well.

Chisholm had to play at third base for the first time in his career when Gleyber Torres refused to move out of second base after New York acquired Chisholm from the Miami Marlins ahead of the trade deadline last year.

He performed well when it came to Outs Above Average, being clocked at a plus-eight per Baseball Savant, but moving back to a more natural position is the goal for the Yankees this spring.

Boone also discussed the possibility of moving the versatile player around to different spots on the field, and it doesn't sound like the skipper is too fond of that idea.

"I don't want to get into bouncing him back and forth. But once we settle on what we're doing [with the roster], then I'll make that final call," he added.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

On paper, the infield unit is much improved with Paul Goldschmidt taking over at first base, Chisholm shifting to second and Anthony Volpe manning shortstop. If LeMahieu can put his injuries behind him and return to his past form, he'll help create one of the best all-around infield groups in the league.

But that's the mystery.

Upon missing out on re-signing Juan Soto, the front office allocated those finances elsewhere and created a deeper roster.

Third base was the lone position that was left alone, opting to see which player out of the LeMahieu, Peraza and Cabrera trio would emerge as the Opening Day starter during camp.

Boone is hoping one of those players can stick at the hot corner so they can play Chisholm at the preferred spot of second base.

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