Nunez sent to Minors; Chavez activated

NEW YORK -- The Yankees have optioned infielder-outfielder Eduardo Nunez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, making room for Eric Chavez on the club's active roster.

Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees want Nunez to abandon the utilityman experiment and get back to playing mostly shortstop, with some second base mixed in.

"We talked about it and said, maybe we're asking this kid to do too much at this time in his career," Girardi said. "... Our thought is, this kid is going to be an everyday shortstop at some point."

The move was made after Nunez committed two errors -- one fielding, one throwing -- on Thursday against the Rays. He was removed in the sixth inning for defense, replaced by Jayson Nix. Girardi said Nix will be the new backup shortstop and second baseman while Chavez can back up at first and third bases.