Aaron Boone will open spring training with plenty of Yankees questions to answer

TAMPA — The Yankees player development complex was busy on Monday, with new faces like Max Fried, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt working out among the returning crop like Aaron Judge, Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. On Tuesday, pitchers and catchers will move across the street to George M.Steinbrenner Field for report day, which also means Aaron Boone’s first news conference of spring training. With the Yankees coming off their loss in the World Series to the Dodgers and of Juan Soto to free agency, here’s a handful of questions that Boone might face when meeting with the media: Heading into camp, the Yankees appear ready to hold a competition for the third base job — assuming Chisholm moves to second base, as Boone has said is his preference — among internal candidates Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas. General manager Brian Cashman indicated last week that Chisholm could bounce between second and third depending on who was pitching that day, though the ideal resolution would be one of their in-house options knocking down the door and claiming third base.

But there’s no guarantee that happens. Boone raved about LeMahieu’s explosiveness last spring until the veteran fouled a ball off his foot in March, the latest lower-half injury for the 36-year-old, who still has two years and $30 million left on his contract.The Yankees would seem to prefer having Cabrera in a utility role while Peraza has yet to hit in the big leagues and is out of minor league options.

The lefty-hitting Vivas, who flashed last spring, has yet to make his MLB debut. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees divvy up the reps at third base in camp, especially once the Grapefruit League schedule begins.  Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.Please provide a valid email address.

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