It’s no secret the New York Yankees will be in the market at the MLB trade deadline to improve the depth in the infield.
How they might go about doing so is a total mystery considering the market isn’t expected to have a surplus of top-tier talent.
However, a recent trade proposal suggested by Bleacher Report’s Joel Rueter has the Yankees sending one of their top prospects to the Los Angeles Angels for utility infielder Luis Rengifo.
Rueter’s proposal includes the Yankees trading away outfielder Everson Pereira, the team’s No. 3 prospect according to Bleacher Report.
“Luis Rengifo has seen regular action at second base, shortstop and third base during his time with the Los Angeles Angels, and the offensive-minded utility man is hitting .305/.354/.413 for a 116 OPS+ with 15 extra-base hits and 20 steals in 62 games,” Rueter wrote.
It would be interesting if the Angels would make this move considering Pereira underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL he suffered earlier this month.
With a .776 OPS, Rengifo looks like an upgrade offensively over what the Yankees have gotten from Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu.
Rengifo profiles much more as a contact hitter who is playing above expectation right now. His .308 batting average is well above his career mark of .252, and some of his deeper metrics could bring about some concern.
Specifically, his 86.9 average exit velocity ranks in the 17th percentile and his 33.7% hard-hit rate is in the 18th percentile. However, he does make contact often with solid marks in whiff rate and strikeout percentage.
Either way, his performance in 2024 could be an upgrade over what the Yankees have gotten from Torres and LeMahieu.
Whether it would be wise to part ways with Pereira in this deal is another conversation entirely.
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