Is Someone Hurt?

The Yankees are reportedly trading for Rougned Odor. Odor was DFAed last week by the Rangers, even though they owe him $27-million over the next two years. He hit .205 in 2019 and .167 last year while striking out over 31% of the time.

He is a lefty and does have power, hitting 30 homers three times in his career, but this move makes me think the Yankees might have some injury news to share. For one, Odor has been a second baseman his whole career, and the Yankees are certainly not benching LeMahieu. Odor played some third this spring, but he isn’t a real utility-infielder candidate and this move would seem to put Tyler Wade’s roster spot in jeopardy. And, the Yankees traded for him when the Rangers had DFAed him. They could have waited the ten days and, assuming no other team traded for him, signed him for the major league minimum. Instead, they are giving up something (reportedly two minor leaguers) and they will have to clear a 40-man roster spot for him. Maybe the analytics department sees something that I’m missing, but this seems like an odd move unless there is an injury to fill.