Spring Target: Jose Iglesias?

By: Ethan Semendinger

February 13th, 2025

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The New York Mets are letting a +3.1 bWAR, >.300 Batting Average, solid infield defender, and top clubhouse guy go. Hey, Yankees: GET HIM!

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The Story of Jose Iglesias:

For all players born in Cuba, fans and the media love to hear of great defection stories. Players like Jose Fernandez jumping into freezing water to save a random woman, Yasiel Puig and his 13 (!) attempts to defect to Mexico, or Orlando Hernandez and his tumultuous journey from the Bahamas, to being offered US custody, to going to Costa Rica, and back to the USA.

For Jose Iglesias, he and a teammate- Noel Arguelles- defected from the Cuban junior national team while in Canada in July of 2008. It would take until September, 2009 when he would sign a deal with the Boston Red Sox, and by 2011, Iglesias was considered a top prospect in the game and make his MLB debut, playing 10 games. In 2012, Iglesias would again crack the top level of baseball, but for just 25 games.

However, in 2013, Iglesias finally got an extended shot in the MLB as a replacement for Stephen Drew and then Will Middlebrooks. Iglesias would play excellent defense and provide a great bat, earning Rookie of the Month honors that June, which helped him become a vital part of a massive 3-team trade between the Red Sox, Tigers, and White Sox at the trade deadline. Ultimately, the Red Sox brought in Jake Peavy while Iglesias went to Detroit.

Iglesias would play with the Tigers as a starter through the rest of 2013, but miss the entire 2014 season due to injury. In 2015, he came back and was a solid everyday player (though, comfortably below average with the bat) through the rest of his Tigers tenure, lasting until the end of the 2018 season. This would be his last stable home in the MLB.

In 2019, Iglesias joined the Red as a minor league free agent, but became a full time starter after Scooter Gennett went down with injury. He would last one season in Cincinnati.

In 2020, the Baltimore Orioles signed Iglesias to a 1-year deal with a club option. It took a month into the COVID-season for him to become the full time starter, and then even while his option was picked up that offseason, he only lasted a year in Baltimore.

For the 2021 season, he was traded to the Angles, and would you believe it, he was their starting shortstop...who got released in September and picked up by the Red Sox for the final month of the season. (To be fair, he did have a -1.1 bWAR with the Angels.)

In 2022, he went to the Colorado Rockies. He started. He also left after the season...as per usual.

In 2023 he was out of the MLB and he bounced between the Marlins and Padres minor league systems.

In 2024, he had a career-best season with the New York Mets as a minor leaguer, before getting called up at the end of May. He quickly became a "good luck" charm for the team, and his side-career as a pop musician and a hit song called "OMG" served as the soundtrack for their season. In September, Iglesias became the starting second baseman and he continued a torrid pace through the rest of the year.

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Jose Iglesias Stats:

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Why Should the Yankees Get Him?

Jose Iglesias is the exact type of player, in the exact type of situation, that the Yankees need to sign, immediately. And there are numerous reasons as to why. Let me break down a couple key points in his favor.

First: Jose Iglesias- probably- wants to still (get paid millions to) play baseball in the MLB

In the past 7 seasons, stretching back to 2018, Jose Iglesias has played for and/or been signed with/in 9 different organizations. Maybe he was just after the 10 year service time threshold in order to access an MLB pension for the rest of his life (he's now far surpassed 10 years). But, I'd think that it means he wants to keep playing ball.

...and there being a couple million dollars coming his way surely helps too.

Second: Jose Iglesias- probably- doesn't want to have to move (again)

Does anybody like moving? It seems to me that moving brings about some of the most stressful times in a person life. Jose Iglesias has had to move- at least temporarily- 9 different times in the last 7 years. His last stop was in New York City, which conveniently is really close to New York City. There's a solid chance that he'd be more open to a deal with the Yankees to give himself some stability after many years on the road.

Third: The Yankees need a solid back-up infielder and/or a third baseman

As of the time of this post being written, the Yankees still do not have a true third base option for the 2025 season. It is currently 12:57 PM on February 13th. According to the Yankees own depth chart on MLB.com, Jazz Chisholm- who has been told he'll be going back to second base- is the third base starter. Behind him are (in order) Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu, Jorbit Vivas, Andrew Velazquez (remember him from 2021?), and Braden Shewmake.

Oswaldo Cabrera is a fine super utility player, but he's given many chances to be a starter and hasn't been fully up to snuff. DJ LeMahieu is a negative as a hitter and fielder at this point. Jorbit Vivas needs more time to develop after hitting .225 in Triple-A last year. Andrew Velazquez and Braden Shewmake are young players who will be journeymen, filling in between the MLB and Triple-A to finish out their 20's, looking for any chance they can get.

Jose Iglesias has proven time and time again to be a serviceable starter at the MLB level. That's better than the rest can say.

Fourth: Nolan Arenado is still out there in a trade, and this helps negotiations for the Yankees

Alex Bregman signed late last night with the Boston Red Sox. This took the potential teams where Nolan Arenado could go from three down to two: the Yankees and the Dodgers. However, I can't really see why the Dodgers are interested in any way other than to keep some negotiation power against the Yankees. Nolan Arenado was not a preferred option for me at third base going into this offseason, but plans have changed, and it seems like all signs are pointing to him joining the team, eventually.

With the Yankees signing Iglesias, it would probably make it just a bit easier to get Arenado too. Then, the Yankees would, at the very least, have an everyday player set to play the position. It gets rid of their need, while putting even more pressure on the Cardinals to make their trade, which was stated as their number one goal this offseason. If he's not traded, I can't imagine Arenado is going to be fun to be around, knowing his team does not want him there. The ball is entirely in the Yankees court, and Iglesias would give them even more leverage.

Fifth: He is a top-tier clubhouse guy, and- likely- a good mentor too

Jose Iglesias knows his role. He knows he is a fill-in starter when a different player gets injured, and a utility infield bench player when everyone is healthy. He also knows how to make a clubhouse fun. Amidst all the antics that the New York Mets had last season- Grimace, "celebrity" first pitches, number retirements, etc.- the biggest was Iglesias' hit song "OMG". It was Iglesias that gave them so much energy, and made the Mets a team that was so much fun to be on.

With no disrespect to Aaron Judge and the rest of the Yankees in the clubhouse, but there doesn't seem to be a player like that on the roster. Judge seems to be a very soft-spoken captain, and that leadership style works for some. But, everybody needs a little "yin" to their "yang", a "good cop" to their "bad cop".

Additionally, when we look across the roster, there is no player who can really relate to his experiences. And, that is also a valuable asset to have in a clubhouse with many young players with high expectations (Wells, Dominguez, Gil) and other new/new-ish players coming in to take starting roles (Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Chisholm). Iglesias seems like a guy everybody gets along with, and who helps glue together a bunch of guys into a team.