Orlando Hudson and Yankees Still Talking?

For some reason over the past couple of years the Yankees and second baseman Orlando Hudson have been linked together in rumors that just won’t go away.

Well this one Hudson is starting himself. The 31-year-old free agent appeared on the MLB Network last night and told Barry Larkin that he was still having dialogue with four teams including the Yankees. He also mentioned that none of the teams have been discussing a position change with him.

This means two things, even if the Yankees are done dealing for the offseason they aren’t done looking. Also, if Hudson hasn’t been asked about a position change then it’s possible the Yankees are still thinking about trading Robinson Cano.

Earlier this offseason the Yankees floated the idea of trading Cano to the Dodgers, possibly for Matt Kemp, while bringing in Hudson to replace him. Then the idea came that maybe they could sign Hudson and move him to center field in place of Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner. Neither idea got much steam and it appeared that the Yankees were content to hold onto Cano and forget about Hudson.

Hudson is a type-A free agent so the Yankees would have to surrender their fourth round draft pick for him. He is also coming off a season where he broke his wrist and posted a career low UZR rating of -6.1 in the field. I don’t really see what the big deal about Hudson is and the Yankees would probably be better off passing unless they have an amazing trade lined up for Cano.