Cashman snags another former first-rounder

One thing we know about Cooperstown Cashman: He never met a former first-round draft pick that he doesn't like. The guy must sit around, memorizing old drafts as brain teasers, and then try to collect them like Pokemon cards. (This would explain the fixation on Geritt Cole.) 

The Yankees are chock full of former first-rounders - (I looked this up, so bear with me:) Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Sonny Gray, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier, Dillon Tate, Justus Sheffield, Billy McKinney... plus the revolving door of ex-Yankee ex-firsters, such as Jayson Nix, Greg Golson, Chris Parmalee, Jeff Francis, Andrew Miller, Nick Swisher, Stephen Drew, Pete Kozma, Dustin Ackley, Mark Teixeira, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba and (gulp) Todd Frazier. And that's not counting all the Yankee first-rounders who may languish forever in the organizational Holodek: (Talkin' to you, Cito Culver!) And today, we add another to the Yankee Wailing Wall, named after David Wailing, our first pick in 1999.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... welcome Jace Peterson, a 27-year-old, formerly bearded LH-hitting utility infielder, with a well oiled glove and ping-pong paddle bat. Last year, with awful Atlanta, he played in 89 games, hitting .215 with 2 HRs. (Think: The Toddfather without power.) He's been a major leaguer since 2014 (at age 24), and in 2016, in 115 games for the Braves, Peterson hit .254 with 7 HRs and a .350 on base percentage. (For 3B, I would take those numbers in a heartbeat.) A 2011 first-round pick by the San Diego Padres, Peterson signed a minor league contract with us for $900,000 (and incentives.) He is the Yankees first scrap heap acquisition of 2018, and you've got to believe Peterson comes to NYC not for the money, but for the chance to compete for two wide open slots.

This is a great, no-cost signing. First off, I love scrap heap signings. Everybody does. You're buying a lottery tickets, and - hey, you never know. At worst, Peterson goes to Scranton and disappears. At best, though, he could bat ninth and provide a solid defense at either 2B or 3B - another version of Ronald "Big Toe" Torreyes. That would happen if Glyber Torres and Miguel Andujar shit the beds in Tampa. Considering the power in our lineup, the 2018 Yankees can well afford to start the season with good field-no hit players at 2B and 3B (though, for the record: Torreyes can hit.) 

Of course, our primal fear remains that the asking price for Todd Frazier continues to plummet, until it rivals that of Chris Carter last February, prompting Cashman to re-sign the Toms River Miracle and 2017 People's Choice Award winner for Best Actor. That would instantly blow Andujar out of the water, making him trade bait and possibly unleashing a domino-drop of trades with untold consequences. There's a lot of hot stove yet to play. But signing Peterson just gave Cash a wee bit more incentive to stick with the rookies. And I already got The Master's HR call: 

"Jace is the place with the helpful hard ball man."

Book him, Dano.