The Yankees acquired Infielder Chris Nelson from the Colorado Rockies for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Corban Joseph was sent down to AAA and Francisco Cervelli was placed on the 60 day Disabled List. I had mentioned the possible trade earlier as the Yankees really needed to make a move because the timing meant they did not have a viable third base option to call up in the wake of Kevin Youkillis going on the DL. Apparently the Yankees had interest in acquiring in acquiring him during the winter meetings after Nelson he hit .301/.352/.458 (105 wRC+) in 377 plate appearances in 2012 . He can play Third, Second and short and I expect that he will be the everyday third baseman over Jayson Nix,he also bats right handed. He hit .242/.282/.318 (51 wRC+) in 71 plate appearances before the Rockies took him off the roster, but Nelson is a career .279/.322/.416 (86 wRC+) hitter over the length of four big league seasons, and the right-handed bat doesn’t have a massive left/right (84/87 wRC+) or home/road (97/72) split.
Nelson was once the 26th best prospect in the game according to Baseball America as a Shortstop in 2005, but he never lived up to the hype. He is a pretty average fielder and does not steal or run bases particularly well, he is also out of minor league options but the Yankees need somebody who can play the infield and Nelson is exactly that. Nelson fits the roster better than Joseph but I do not know how long he will be on the roster as it is possible that the Yankees will give Ronnie Mustelier a shot after he finishes rehabbing.
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