Lyle Overbay has a good chance of making the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster. If he doesn’t and Overbay ends up becoming available, Boston’s most bitter rival could be waiting in the wings to nab the veteran first baseman.
Scouts from the Yankees have been watching Overbay closely, according to The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo.
As Cafardo points out, the Yankees could need a left-handed bat to complement Juan Rivera at first base. Mark Teixeira, of course, will start the season on the disabled list because of a wrist injury, and we learned recently that the injury may be even worse than originally thought.
Overbay, who the Red Sox signed to a minor league deal this offseason, could opt out of his contract on Tuesday. The Sox would need to pay Overbay $100,000 if they didn’t want to keep him on the major league roster but wanted to send him to the minors — per the new collective bargaining agreement.
Overbay was signed to compete for the job of backup first baseman behind Mike Napoli. The team later added Mike Carp, though, and the two have both been trying to prove themselves since.
Overbay is batting .222 (8-for-36) with seven RBIs, six walks and a .341 on-base percentage this spring.
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