Kyle Schwarber fits so naturally — in theory — with the Yankees. They are crying out for lefty bats. The now non-tendered former Cub has a pull swing that is made for 40-plus homers with the short porch in The Bronx. He is probably not going to be expensive, likely favoring a one-year contract to rebuild his value for next year’s free agent market.
But then theory smashes into the reality of the Yankee roster.
Giancarlo Stanton is locked in as the DH. Luke Voit, the defending MLB homer champ, is at first base. Schwarber can be put in left. But while the right field at Yankee Stadium would favor his swing, the large swath in left would exacerbate his ordinary (or worse) defense.
Two of the Yankees’ problems are having too many lumbering DH types that negatively impact their defense and too many players whose profile is walk, strikeout or homer — and that three true outcome model defines Schwarber.
There is a lot of Gary Sanchez in Schwarber’s offensive game. Like Sanchez, there were early hints of an all-around terrific hitter — he was one of now former Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s favorite players because Epstein sensed the skill to be a complete hitter with power. But over time Schwarber — like Sanchez — has morphed into more of an all-or-nothing pull monster.
Schwarber hit .188 in the abbreviated 2020 season. Only five players who came to bat at least 175 times had a worse average — with Sanchez at the bottom at .147. The Yankees decided to stick with Sanchez and tender him a 2021 contract before Wednesday’s deadline despite being in payroll-slashing mode.
Perhaps even more payroll obsessed, the Cubs did not want to invest the $8 million-ish it would take to keep Schwarber. It continued the tear down of their 2016 champion. Jon Lester is a free agent. The Cubs also non-tendered center fielder Albert Almora, like Schwarber, a high first-round pick of the Epstein administration.
But here is something to keep in mind about Sanchez and Schwarber — even in difficult seasons they remained among the majors’ best in exit velocity. And the Yankees love them some exit velocity. Schwarber is a year removed from 38 homers. He was the first player the Yankees pursued in the summer of 2016 when they had Aroldis Chapman on the trade market. But back then, Schwarber was off limits and the Yankees landed Gleyber Torres.
There are scouts who believe Schwarber can use the whole field better and become a better overall hitter without sacrificing much power because he has the strength to get the ball out to left-center and center. In this way, there are some similarities to Michael Conforto, picked 10th in 2014 when Schwarber was drafted fourth. Conforto’s offensive profile improved in 2020, in particular, when he used his strength throughout the whole field.
There is enough there for Schwarber to entice the Yankees, whose only regular lefty hitter at the moment is switch-hitter Aaron Hicks. How could they make him fit?
Scenario 1:
They sign him to play left field, use Mike Tauchman or a re-signed Brett Gardner as a late-game defensive substitute and deploy Clint Frazier as a trade piece to help land starting pitching. Opposing executives have told The Post the Yankees have at least tested the waters on what kind of return they could get on players such as Frazier, Tauchman and Miguel Andujar.
Scenario 2:
The Yankees use Voit as a central trade piece for starting pitching and play Schwarber at first base — believing he can handle that position at least as well as Voit, if not better.
