Insider names these first basemen as potential trade options for the Yankees

The New York Yankees acquired versatile left-handed slugger Cody Bellinger in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, but they are still looking for a first baseman.

Although Bellinger plays a strong first base, the Yankees could instead stick him in the outfield in either center or left, which will allow AL MVP winner Aaron Judge to move back to right field.

The Yankees are reportedly engaged to a number of free agent first basemen including Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana. However, they could explore the trade market to fill the void at the position after exercising Anthony Rizzo’s $6 million buyout.

When asked about potential trade options the Yankees could pursue in Foul Territory, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal demurred Athletics agree that Nathaniel Lowe of the Texas Rangers is a possibility as well as Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians.

That said, Rosenthal noted that while Naylor is available, Cleveland doesn’t have to move him after offloading Andres Gimenez’s contract to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month.

Rosenthal also believes that whatever the Yankees continue to do this winter will ultimately dictate Bellinger’s position in 2025.

That means if they sign another outfielder, Bellinger could end up being the first baseman in the Bronx.

As for Lowe, the 29-year-old would give the Yankees’ lineup another left-handed bat in addition to Bellinger. He also plays strong defense to begin with, with 7 outs above average in 2024,

Lowe doesn’t get as much power as a typical first baseman, having only hit 20 or more home runs in one season in his career, but is productive offensively overall (.272/.356/.433, .789 career OPS) . Not to mention, he’s under team control at a bargain price for the next two seasons.

As for Naylor, he’s also a lefty coming off a stellar season in which he smashed a career-high 31 homers and drove in 108 RBI in 152 games. His slash line in 2024 was .243/.320/.456 with a .756 OPS, which is down from the .308/.354/.489 and .843 OPS mark he set the year before.

Naylor comes along with just one year of control remaining and had a rough campaign defensively with -6 defensive runs saved at first base.

There is also some history between Naylor and the Yankees due to his “rock the baby” celebration after homering ace Gerrit Cole in the 2022 ALDS. This led to Naylor being mocked by Yankees fans. But the fanbase would probably get over this if Naylor joined the pinstripes.

The Yankees signing a first baseman from the free agent market is still a realistic possibility. But Lowe and Naylor make sense as potential trade options.