The New York Yankees have announced that they have signed a four-year deal with free agent third baseman Chase Headley. The deal pays Headley $52 million with plate appearance incentives that could boost the overall deal to $56 million. Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the deal was going down.
The long-time Padre was traded to the Yankees in 2014. In 224 plate appearances in the Bronx, Headley hit .262/.371/.398 with six home runs and 17 RBI while playing solid defense. He’s 30, and a four-year deal may seem longish, but the Yankees could really use him given that Alex Rodriguez is pushing 40 and just had a year off and really can’t be relied upon to be an everyday position player. Indeed, he may utterly crater and be cut in spring training for all we know.
Now, between Headley and Didi Gregorius, New York has shored up the left side of the infield for the next few years.
Also worth noting: they may have done so, at least at third base, better than the Red Sox did:Pablo Sandoval, 2012-2014: .759 OPS, 116 OPS+, 8.2 WAR, $90 million Chase Headley, 2012-2014: .782 OPS, 123 OPS+, 13.6 WAR, $50 million
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 15, 2014