PERFECT STEAL: Yankees’ and The Mets Hopes Dies As Padres Stun The MLB World With Shocking Free Agent Signing From NY Mets

It’s official. The New York Yankees will be unable to replicate the Mets’ magic in the coming season (in one specific fashion).

According to FanSided’s MLB insider Robert Murray, free agent infielder Jose Iglesias has agreed to terms with the San Diego Padres.

Throughout the offseason, Iglesias expressed his desire to return to the New York Mets, but Mets management appeared to have burned that bridge months ago. Despite creating the “OMG” celebration that propelled an underdog to the NLCS, the experienced infielder lacked the same clout as Pete Alonso. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to persuade David Stearns and Steve Cohen to meet privately to reach an agreement.

So the Padres will benefit from the 35-year-old spark plug who had a 137 (!!!) OPS+ last season, while the Yankees will either stick with their internal infield choices (Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza) or make a last-minute deal.

The San Diego Padres and free-agent infielder Jose Iglesias have reached an agreement on a contract, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Yankees News: Padres sign Jose Iglesias as NYY’s infield depth chart remains unclear.
Joel Sherman wrote less than 48 hours ago about how “lucky” the Yankees were to have Iglesias available after a season in which he was crucial to their crosstown rivals. Unfortunately, despite the infielder’s desperation, the Yankees preferred to wring as much juice as possible out of Peraza, who has no minor-league options and must either be carried on the Opening Day roster or DFA.

Either they’ve seen enough to support him this spring (he’s had the second-most at-bats on the team in spring training play), or they’re truly “out of loot” as has been rumored in recent weeks.

While last-minute trades for Nolan Arenado, Luis Rengifo, Luis Arraez, and Willi Castro remain on the table (and may have been hinted at by Aaron Boone recently), adding Iglesias would have allowed the Yankees to stick to a short-term commitment without giving up any non-monetary assets. We expected this, but it’s still disappointing.