The Yankees have been without a regular second baseman since December 12, 2013, when Robinson Cano signed his blockbuster deal with the Seattle Mariners. We've seen some real schlock since then: Brian Roberts, Stephen Drew, Jose Pirela, Brendan Ryan--it's all been pretty bad. Yankees' second basemen put up a collective .223/.277/.372 slash line with -1.1 fWAR in those two years, so at this point, I'm ready for anything.
It was also clear that the Yankees were not to going to rely on the free agent market, stating their new mantra: get younger, and get cheaper.