The Yankees have designated shortstop Eduardo Nunez for assignment, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. A 40-man roster spot was needed for fellow infielder Yangervis Solarte, who beat out Nunez for the club's utility infield role.

Needless to say, the move represents a disappointing step for the 26-year-old, who was once viewed as the eventual replacement for the legendary Derek Jeter. While it remains to be seen whether this means the end of his time in the New York organization, Nunez could well be headed elsewhere.

Nunez first saw time with the big club back in 2010, and has compiled 827 plate appearance at the MLB level since that time. Over that stretch, Nunez has put up a .267/.313/.379 triple-slash with 10 home runs and 48 stolen bases. His glove work has been the real issue, however. Nunez was pegged as costing the Yanks a remarkable number of runs last year — 28 by DRS and 20.6 by UZR — in just 608 1/3 frames at short. His 2013 UZR/150 innings mark of -40.7 was the worst rate logged by any player who saw at least 500 innings in the field.