With Robinson Cano surprisingly out of the picture, the Yankees now have one of the biggest holes in all of baseball to fill. Not only do you have to replace a position where it is tough to find talent, you have to replace the best hitter in your lineup. There isn't a way to sugarcoat the fact that the Yankees are in bad shape at second base, whether you think it would be a good idea to hand him ten years or not.
So, where do the Yankees turn? The options aren't unlimited, but they do exist:
Omar Infante (Free Agent) - There is nothing easier for the Yankees to do at this point than to just give Infante the deal he wants and put him right at second base. Infante hit .318/.345/.450 (113 OPS+) in 476 plate appearances for the Tigers in 2013, which represents the highest OPS+ of his career. Of course, he has been around for a while and it is at least a little scary to go after a 31-year old coming off of his career year. Infante never walks, never strikes out, and can pop a few home runs. Defensively, he grades above average at second base.
Nick Franklin (Seattle) - Naturally, the first instinct you may have when you lose a player is to see who the starter was on the team he is going to. In this case, the starter is actually worth looking at. Franklin will be 23 heading into 2014, and is coming off of a poor rookie campaign (.225/.303/.382). That said, he came up through the Seattle organization as a top prospect, and may flourish a bit if out of Seattle. However, Seattle will probably use him as a big trading chip to further improve their roster (as part of a package for David Price, perhaps?), so it would be hard for the Yankees to match up.
Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati) - Overpaid and a bit overrated. Phillips is certainly not a poor offensive player for a second baseman, but he is due $50M over the next four seasons, and he will be 33 years old when 2014 begins. He is primed for a steep decline, and has already been in a steady decline recently. Major pass.
Stephen Drew (Free Agent) - The Yankees could try to be a bit creative by bringing in Drew, who is coming off of a .253/.333/.443 (111 OPS+) season in Boston. There would be a few obvious problems with this approach: Like Kelly Johnson, Drew hits left-handed. Oh, and there is that minor fact that Drew has never played anywhere other than shortstop in his career.
Howie Kendrick (Angels) - Kendrick is a fine offensive player for a second baseman (career OPS+ of 107). As is the case with Infante, he never walks - though he does strike out a lot. He will be entering his Age-30 season with a reasonable contract ($18.85M owed to him over the next two seasons). Like Infante, his defense has been solid. The bottom line here is that Kendrick may be a bit better overall than Infante, but is it worth giving up prospects for him instead of just giving money to Infante? Probably not.
David Adams/Corban Joseph/Jose Pirela, etc. - Adams is no longer with the franchise, but can still be resigned. Joseph and Pirela are not exactly the types of players you want to see starting in 2014. Pirela is stuck at Double-A, while Joseph was already removed from the 40-man roster. There is a 0% chance that the 2014 second baseman comes from within.
Danny Espinosa (Washington) - In conversations with other Yankees fans on the internet, I have downplayed Espinosa tremendously. However, when you are in a desperate situation, all options need to be considered. Espinosa hit .158/.193/.272 in 167 PA for the Nationals last year, which is borderline criminal. However, he did pop 17 home runs as recently as 2012 and is still only 26 years old. The Yankees would probably also like the appeal of his switch-hitting ability (he is better historically from the right side of the plate) and his ability to steal bases (You already have Ellsbury and Gardner on the roster - why not another?) Espinosa would probably come cheap in terms of prospects being involved, but I would assume he is not currently high on the Yankees list.
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