Yankees choose 34-year-old outfielder over Oswaldo Cabrera for Opening Day roster

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Yankees choose 34-year-old outfielder over Oswaldo Cabrera for Opening Day roster originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New York Yankees, like every team around Major League Baseball, are in the final stages of narrowing down their Major League Opening Day roster.

While Carlos Lagrange, Spencer Jones, and Jasson Dominguez all haven't made the Opening Day roster, there was a spot up for grabs in the outfield that former top prospect Oswaldo Cabrera was fighting for.

However, according to Greg Joyce of The New York Post, the Yankees have decided to go a different route with their outfield. Instead of Cabrera, the Yankees are picking Randal Grichuk, a 34-year-old veteran, to round out their outfield.

Yankees choose Randal Grichuk over Oswaldo Cabrera​

"Randal Grichuk has made the team, Aaron Boone said," Joyce reported Saturday. "Oswaldo Cabrera is being optioned to Triple-A."

Instead of bringing Cabrera back up to the Majors to round out the outfield depth, the Yankees are selecting the contract of Grichuk for the Major League roster.

This spring, Grichuk got 16 at-bats and hit .125 with a .313 OPS. It was not a good spring by any means, but with 12 years of MLB experience, hitting .251 with a .763 OPS in his MLB career, there's a reason why the Yankees are going with Grichuk over Cabrera.

This spring, Cabrera, the 27-year-old switch-hitter, had a .143 batting average in 14 at-bats with a .464 OPS. Slightly better than Grichuk, but his Major League production hasn't been as good as Grichuk's.

Cabrera has a .234 career batting average in the Majors, and a .641 OPS across four seasons since his 2022 debut.

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While Cabrera might be able to play more positions than Grichuk, the veteran outfielder is a better depth addition and should be a solid veteran presence in the outfield.

Of course, the Yankees' outfield is so good that the depth won't get much run, with Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge in the starting lineup.

But, Grichuk, the righty slugger, will likely see some playing time as an occasional platoon bat for the lefty outfielders.

This is a slightly disappointing move in the sense that Grichuk, a veteran who's near the tail-end of his career, is getting an MLB roster spot over Cabrera, a 27-year-old with untapped potential.

Grichuk is taking over for Cabrera in the outfield as a depth outfielder, with Cabrera returning to Triple-A to begin the 2026 season.

More MLB news:​

• Blue Jays sign Joe Mantiply to minor league contract
• Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki will return to rotation, not bullpen according Dave Roberts
• Konnor Griffin projected to make Pirates Opening Day roster by two analysts
• Joey Wentz is out for the season with a torn ACL for the Braves
• Reds’ Hunter Greene to be out until July amid brutal injury news
• Braves predicted to trade Bryce Elder for Lars Nootbaar
• Jesus Luzardo’s $135 million extension is a steal for Phillies

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