How the Yankees’ Pirela Offers a Big Time Solution

Wednesday is a big night in some sorts for the New York Yankees. Jose Pirela, the 25-year old jack of all trades, will make his 2015 debut after being activated off the disabled list. His return offers a solution to some of the Yankees problems. 

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What the Yankees should do and what they will do are probably quite different. Pirela is nothing flashy. He is the 24th ranked prospect in the Yankees’ farm system. Last season in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre he emerged as a candidate for the Yankees Minor League Player of the Year, putting up a .305/.351/.441 slash line with 42 extra base hits (10 of which were home runs), 60 RBI and 15 stolen bases primarily out of the leadoff spot.

Bigger name prospects, like Aaron Judge, Luis Severino and Rob Refsnyder emerged, and Pirela was still under the radar to the casual baseball observer. He didn’t even initially earn a September call-up until Martin Prado was shelved for the season with an emergency appendectomy. But when he got to New York, he performed (8-for-25, 3 RBI).

Pirela was amidst a big spring training when he ran into the outfield wall and was diagnosed with a concussion. He was on the shelf for roughly a month before beginning his rehab. Once with the RailRiders, Pirela lit up the box scores yet again, going 11-for-19 in four games, with a home run, 4 RBI and not one strikeout.

Now he is back. And the Yankees have a problem — albeit a good problem — on their hands. The logical move would be to send Gregorio Petit to Triple-A and open the spot for Pirela, who essentially serves the same super utility role that Petit does now. But it’s not the right move.

What the Yankees need to do is send Didi Gregorius to the minors. It may sound nuts, but Gregorius is simply not playing as well as he could be. That doesn’t mean the Yankees should give up on him and label him a bust, but think about the situation Gregorius walked into: he took over for a legend in Derek Jeter. Gregorius needs to get his head straight, and he can do that briefly in Triple-A.

There are two advantages to this move. One, it gets one of the two struggling bats in the middle of the Yankees infield out of the line-up and ignites it with one of the Yankees’ prospects of their new future in which people have been raving. It shifts Stephen Drew to his normal position, and once he is in a comfort zone, maybe, just maybe the hitting will come around. While how Pirela will perform as the everyday starting second baseman is an unknown, the defense at shortstop will be improved with Drew in his home spot.

Secondly, sending Gregorius down teams him with Rob Refsnyder. Refsnyder is all the buzz in the Yankees system, and after a break out 2014 and a huge Spring Training, many felt he earned the right to be the Opening Day second baseman. His defense was a huge concern and over his first 15 games with the RailRiders to start 2015 the concerns were justified as he committed 7 errors. 

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Now, Refsnyder is heating up. He looks good at the plate and, surprisingly, in the field as well. Sending Gregorius down teams up the double play combo of the Yankees not so distant future and gets them comfortable together. And maybe Gregorious finds his stroke with less of the pressure on his shoulders. For Gregorius, as much as he may not like it, it is a win-win situation.

What happens if, in a month down the road, the Refsnyder-Gregorius duo is gelling? Well, the Yankees promote them. Pirela can then shift to the super utility role with his ability to play second, third, right field and even some first base. If Drew hasn’t come along, then the Yankees may have to swallow their pride and DFA him. It wouldn’t be the first time as both 2014 failed second base experiments (Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson) were cut lose midway through the year. The total cost of their contracts was $5-million, the same as Drew’s.

This is the time for the New York Yankees to make their move. Since the 2013 draft, people have heard how the Yankees have turned around their farm system. They have retained older players and passed on big free agent signings this past offseason because they felt that their young guns were a year or two away. Well, if the Yankees are smart, that future starts tonight.