Yanks see Gregorius-like potential

TAMPA — Brandon Drury’s numbers don’t jump off the page in a way that would tell you he’s The Next Big Thing, yet the Yankees have been trying to pry him away from the Diamondbacks for years, convinced he has star potential.

And given Brian Cashman’s track record in trades over the last few years, who would dare argue?

For that matter, who knows, maybe Drury is another Didi Gregorius-like steal in the making.

“Ah geez, I knew that was coming,” Tim Naehring said with a laugh on Wednesday.

Well, why not? Naehring, now Brian Cashman’s top lieutenant, was one of the scouts who pushed hardest for the Gregorius trade with the D-Backs four years ago, and now he, as well as many of those same scouts, are projecting similar possibilities with Drury.

“There’s so much upside,” Naehring said. “We thought it was the perfect fit in a lot of ways.”

Drury, who turns 26 in August, has had a couple of solid seasons in Arizona, hitting .267 with 37 doubles and 13 home runs last year. But he doesn’t walk much, which led to a .317 on-base percentage, and his home numbers in the desert are dramatically better than his road numbers. So why do the Yankees love him so much? For starters, they think being bounced around from third base, his natural position, to left field and second base, to make way for Jake Lamb, has affected his offense at least to some degree, and their plan is to put him at third and leave him there.

They also see what Naehring called “a swing that profiles well at our ballpark,” meaning that he drives the ball to the opposite field naturally, which, as a righthanded hitter will lead to a lot of home runs at Yankee Stadium.

In addition, they believe his plate discipline, which Naehring said has been “below-average to date,” can be improved dramatically with the help of analytics that will help him identify pitchers’ tendencies in certain counts and “get him in position to swing at fastballs.”

Which, of course, is another way of saying the Yankees think they can get him to stop chasing so much, especially against breaking stuff, and improve last season’s 3.68 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

“We’ve identified some things we think will help him,” Naehring said, not wanting to get specific. “The swing itself is fundamentally sound, and he’ll be able to utilize the right field porch (at the Stadium). He’s not a turn-and-burn guy.”

No less significant, the Yankees are convinced Drury’s athleticism and mental makeup give him the type of foundation that will allow him to make the changes they project.

Some of that comes not just from their scouting projectables but input from their new third base coach, Phil Nevin, who managed Drury in the minors with the Diamondbacks a few years ago.

“I know his work ethic,” Nevin said Wednesday, “and the important thing is I know he wants to be great. He loves the game. He’s a gym rat and a very intense guy. People will see that very quickly.

“So I do think there’s a lot more that can be tapped into. In all honesty, I think switching positions has affected him a little (offensively). He’s a good third baseman, and that’s where he had played his whole life. He’s comfortable there.”

All in all, the Yankees aren’t saying Drury is Mike Schmidt, but you get the feeling they’re convinced he can play at an All-Star level. Clearly they weren’t this high on him when he was a 13th-round draft pick out of high school by the Diamondbacks in Oregon, but their scouts were struck by his potential in the minors as far back as four or five years ago.

Thus, as Brian Cashman said on Wednesday, “We have been looking at Brandon Drury for quite some time. I tried to get him years ago through (former GM) Dave Stewart, before that from (another former GM, the late) Kevin Towers.”

Obviously there was a limit to how much Cashman would give up for Drury. Same this winter when he said he had “many extended conversations” with current D-Backs GM Mike Hazen.

And it wasn’t until Hazen engaged the Rays in a three-way deal that it came together, in part because Tampa Bay felt strongly about Yankees second base prospect Nick Solak.

The Yankees also gave up minor league pitcher Taylor Widener, so the deal was further testament to the depth of their minor league system, as neither player is considered among their top 10 prospects.

In any case, the Yankees finally have their man, and at the right price too. Drury, in his pre-arbitration stage, will earn about $600,000 this season, assuring Cashman of having payroll room under the luxury-tax threshold to pursue pitching, if necessary, at the July trade deadline. So will Drury live up to all of this potential the Yankees see in him?

Well, Cashman has been on a roll lately, when you consider the trades he has made in recent years for Gregorius, Aaron Hicks and Starlin Castro, as well as the deadline deals last year for Sonny Gray, David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle, and the prospect haul he brought back in 2016 for Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller.

Is Drury the latest notch on the GM’s belt? Would you bet against it? and Brendan Ryan on Dec. 8, 2015. Warren was reacquired from Cubs, while Castro was used as centerpiece in deal with Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton.

AARON HICKS

Traded to Yanks on Nov. 11, 2015 for John Ryan Murphy (who is now with D-backs). The team had faith and kept trotting Hicks out in 2016, when he batted just .215, but rewarded team last year with career best 15 HRs, 52 RBI and .266 avg. Remains key piece in crowded outfield.

DIDI GREGORIUS

Gregorius was brought in from Arizona (Domingo Leyba and Robbie Ray) on three-team trade with Tigers (Shane Greene) to succeed Derek Jeter. That never wore on the affable Didi, who has blossomed at the plate and in the field.