Trade Deadline Needs: Third Base.

It's becoming more and more evident everyday that if the Yankees are going to have any chance at succeeding in the playoffs, they're going to need a offensively sound third baseman to held them achieve their goals.

Last night's starting third baseman, Alberto Gonzalez, gave the Yankees very little to cheer about with his 0-for-4 performance, that included three strikeouts and an error in the field. Gonzalez only has three hits for the Yankees, none since May 15th against the Mariners, and is batting a mere .100 with no RBI's.

Remember when the Yankees signed Kevin Youkilis and everyone was all like, "What's going to happen when A-Rod comes back, leaving us with two third baseman?" Well, Youkilis is probably done for the year and A-Rod isn't sure that he's going to see the field again in 2013.

The Yankees thought they had something special in David Adams, but now he doesn't look like he has a clue about what to do at the plate and his batting average is dropping each and every game.

Girardi hasn't been able to pencil down a normal third baseman in a while and it's hurting the Yankees. Nix, although he's going an OK job, is normally a SS/2B, Gonzalez is normally a SS/2B, and Adams came up mainly at second base, not as a third baseman.

When you rank the Yankees third base production against the other teams in the American League, the Yanks are last in homeruns (4) and last in RBI's (28). A .234 average ranks them 21st in baseball, and a .324 slugging percentage ranks them 28th.

An upgrade is need now, not later. Cashman can't risk waiting on A-Rod, hoping he comes back sometime after the All-Star break, and lose out some of the other options around the league.

As for the options, there are a few players that can fit into the Yankees mold, but there isn't many. For instance, I mentioned Michael Young the other day and not many people seemed to agree with me, although there are some reports the suggest the Yankees are interested in trading for Young.

His salary is payable, is average would immediately place himself as one of the Yankees top average hitters, and his ability to play around the diamond, especially 1st base, would help the team in many ways, giving Girardi a better option to back-up Overbay.

Aramis Ramirez is another name to keep an eye on. He's hitting .275 with 5 homeruns and 27 RBI's this season for the Brewers, but he is owed a lot of money over the next couple of years and that's something the Yankees might want to avoid.

Jeff Keppinger is a guy the Yankees went after in the offseason, but didn't get him, obviously. He's hitting .247 with 2 homeruns and 28 RBI's for the White Sox this season, and as a third baseman his fielding percentage is 1.000. So there's that.

As much as the Yankees want to keep payroll down and use players from within the system, they have to understand their system is very stacked with big-league bats. I'm all for them going out to pick up some bats at the deadline, as long as they're not place holders like Reid Brignac, Chris Nelson and Alberto Gonzalez.

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