The New York Yankees got their 2025 season off on the right foot Thursday, topping the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 behind home runs from catcher Austin Wells â whose blast was the first in MLB history by a catcher to lead off Opening Day â and shortstop Anthony Volpe.
But down in the eighth spot in the batting order, designated hitter Ben Rice, a second-year player who was a Yankees 12th-round draft pick, 363rd overall in 2021 out of Ivy League Dartmouth College, notched a base hit and a walk in three plate appearances as he started the season as a fill-in for the injured Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton showed up at Spring Training reporting “severe” pain in both elbows. The ongoing updates on Stanton’s condition have been generally bleak, but sometimes ambiguous, with estimates for his return ranging from Memorial Day, which is May 26, to never in 2025.
Stanton has been receiving multiple platelet-rich plasma injections in his elbows, a therapy using a patient’s own blood cells to speed up the healing process, and for the first time on Thursday they were reported to be helping.
Who Protects Aaron Judge With Stanton Out?
According to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Stanton has shown “steady improvement,” and “we’ve all been encouraged by the last couple of weeks.” But Boone still gave “no timetable” for Stanton’s return.
The 35-year-old who has hit 429 home runs in his 15-year Major League career provided a presence in the middle of the Yankees order that is not easy to replace, especially when used as protection in the lineup for Aaron Judge â who his 62 home runs in 2022 largely with Stanton following him in the order, forcing pitchers to throw strikes to Judge.
Can Rice provide that level of protection? Not batting eighth he can’t. That’s why, at least according to media reports, longtime Yankees general manager Brain Cashman has been working the phones looking for a trade that would bring the Bronx Bombers a hitter who could fulfill Stanton’s function in the lineup.
Earlier this week, Pinstripes Nation scribe Sara Molnick urged the Yankees to make that trade â for Chicago White Sox 2023 All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr.
White Sox Outfielder Would be ‘Appealing Asset’
Robert, a native of Cuba who defected in 2017, at the age of 19, missed 54 games in 2024 with a hip flexor strain. But in the previous season he connected for 38 home runs and tallied a healthy OPS of .857. Before his call-up to the White Sox in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he was listed as the organization’s No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
He also stole 23 bases last year on top of 20 in 2023, and won a Gold Glove in the outfield in his rookie year, confirming Robert’s status as a “five-tool” player.
The $50 million, six-year contract extension he signed with the White Sox in his rookie season makes the 27-year-old an “appealing asset,” according to Molnick.
“Robert currently plays under one of baseballâs most team-friendly contracts for a player of his abilities,” Molnick wrote. “His deal includes $20 million club options for both 2026 and 2027, with modest $2 million buyout provisions. This cost certainty makes him particularly attractive for contending teams building with financial sustainability in mind.”
The price in trade, however, would be high. To obtain Robert, Molnick believes the Yankees would need to package three valued prospects â outfielder Everson Pereira (the Yankees’ No. 14 overall), middle-infielder Roderick Arias (No. 7), and righty pitcher Cade Smith, a sixth round draft pick in 2023.
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