Corner Infielders Conundrum: Who stays, Who goes?

Adams and Overbay vs. Youkilis and Teixeira. The great debate.

Two months ago if I told you these four corner infielders would be battling for two spots, I would have been laughed at. Now, it's a serious situation the Yankees soon must resolve. Both Youkilis and Teixeira are expected back around the first week of June. AKA, next week.

The typical Yankees reaction? It's a good problem to have. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman are right, it is a good problem. Depth is important, especially when it comes to interleague play; however, what are they going to do about it when it comes down to filling up the lineup card each day?

First, let's hear from Twitter:

@lennysyankees wild stab in the dark: the players making $20 million and $12 million this year will get more playing time.
— Andy C (@23_Andy_C) May 27, 2013

There's no question salaries will be on the minds of Girardi and Cashman when making this decision. Then again, it isn't impossible for the Yankees to go with their guts instead of their wallet. We've seen it before.

@lennysyankees Tex at 1B, Youk at 3B, Adams back up both of those guys and play some as DH against LHP, Overbay traded for fringe prospect
— ZS (@zs190) May 27, 2013

This will likely be what happens as soon as both hobbled vets return. But hopefully it doesn't stay this way for long, and hopefully the Yankees take my advice about Overbay. See my cases for both debates below.

Bloomquist, McDonald, Nix linked to Yanks

This isn’t breaking news, but I never mentioned Willie Bloomquist, John McDonald and Jayson Nix as potential trade targets for the Yankees. The topic arose this morning on MLBTR, as Brian Cashman made it clear “the bench is the area of priority as of right now.” 

Instead of discussing whether those three infielders would be good or bad options for the Yankees — I think all of us would agree any of them would be upgrades — I want to question Cashman’s logic here.

I was surprised by the quote. Before, the Yankees made it clear they were looking for a bat to replace Nick Johnson and some bullpen help. Now, when it seems the bullpen is struggling the most, Cashman still prioritizes the bench.

Perhaps he’s thinking it will be easier to acquire a bench piece now and a reliever closer to the deadline. If that’s the case, then it’s understandable. But just to be clear, the weakest part of the team right now is definitely the bullpen. If Cashman doesn’t think that, we’ve got problems.