Trade Deadline Needs: First Base

Listen, I like Lyle Overbay and everything that he's been doing as a placeholder for the Yankees, but I don't they should stick with him for the rest of the season. The Yankees are almost never buyers for big name players at the deadline, but this year more than ever, they need to be.

Overbay was great through the first month, but he's not an everyday player and as the season continues, it's showing and a move is needed. Someone I think we can all agree on is Justin Morneau, for many reasons.

In my opinion, I think that Morneau would be a perfect in Yankee Stadium. I know that he hasn't been showing the same power he once had, but consider this: he, just like Joe Mauer, has not had the same power since the Twins moved outdoors to their nice big ballpark.

It's not easy to have a 30 homerun season playing at Target Field. Morneau has power, and he showed us some of that on Thursday with a pair a long balls, and I think if you move him into playing with the short porch in right, he'll have a grand time.

From a financial standpoint, I think trading for Morneau is a good fit. Teixeira, hopefully, will be back completely healthy next season. Morneau's contract expires after 2013, and the Yankees would only need to pay for about half of his $15 million for this season.

If you're still not convinced, here's my final selling point: Morneau is having a better season than Overbay. He's batting 50 points higher than Overbay, his on-base percentage is about 50 points higher, he's got 15 more RBI's on three less homeruns, remember the ballpark difference, and Morneau's WAR (0.9) is higher than Overbay's (0.1), for those who pay attention to WAR.

Are there other options at first base? Yes, yes there other options. But I think that Morneau is the best fit for the Yankees. And if you disagree, who you probably do, let me know and I'll be willing to debate.

Please, take to Twitter (@GavinEwbank2013) and let me know this: Yeh or Neh for Justin Morneau. 

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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.

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

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