Yankees giving Nunez a chance as utility infielder

TAMPA, Fla. -- Two years ago, the Yankees sent Eduardo Nunez to the Minors so he could focus on playing shortstop every day, effectively abandoning an early-season experiment of developing him into a utility player.

Now, because of need, the Yankees are giving it another shot. Nunez impressed the club by playing well at third base late last season, and so manager Joe Girardi is willing to consider him at multiple infield positions.

"We will move him everywhere: some third, some second, some short too," Girardi said. "I think it's important that he still plays there too as well. He is someone that we will move everywhere. Obviously he's in competition for third base as well."

Nunez, 26, batted .260 with three home runs, 28 RBIs and a .307 on-base percentage in 90 games for the Yankees last year. He played 75 games at shortstop, 14 games at third base and two games at second base.

"We need him to do that," Girardi said. "Last year, Derek [Jeter] was down and we needed him to play short every day, and [Nunez] ended up getting hurt too. As you saw last year, we moved him to third at the end of the year and I thought he did a pretty good job."