The New York Yankees are having some issues at the shortstop position. Superstar Gleyber Torres is not looking ideal early on in Spring Training. Many Yankees fans were not warm to the prospect of Gleyber being the everyday shortstop before Spring Training.
Many fans thought the Yankees would seek a permanent solution at shortstop to keep Gleyber at second where he is clearly a better defender. Michael Kay even stated that he would have to see it to believe it that the Yankees would go with Gleyber as their starting everyday shortstop.
Well, the Yankees never went out and got another shortstop which means that by default, Gleyber Torres is the shortstop, and boy it has not been pretty so far. Torres has now committed five errors in just ten games during the spring. Yes, it’s just Spring Training, but it does raise some red flags about Gleyber’s ability to handle the position over the course of a full season. We saw Gleyber struggle last year at short before Didi Gregorious came back. Gleyber has all the talent in the world, but he just does not look comfortable at the shortstop position.
People are starting to say the Yankees shouldn’t have let Didi walk after last season. The idea is that maybe the Yankees should have brought back Didi on a one year deal similar to what the Phillies gave him. So the question is, are the Yankees regretting their decision to let Didi Gregorious walk out the door?
Is there regret?
There is a very simple answer to this question, and the answer is no. The Yankees do not regret letting Didi Gregorious walk out the door after the season ended. Was Didi popular with the fans? Absolutely. Was Didi a very solid shortstop? No question. Do the Yankees sign a guy like Gerrit Cole if they bring Didi back? Probably not. That is the argument that so many fans seem to be missing here.
Yes, Didi was a good player, but the Yankees invested everything they had into securing what was needed, a starting pitcher. Didi also didn’t do himself any favors with his performance against the Astros in the playoffs. In a couple of huge moments, Didi chased terrible first pitches that killed Yankees rallies that could have changed the entire series.
Everyone knows that New York is a “What have you done for me lately?” kinda town. Keep in mind, Gleyber Torres is obviously not going to commit errors at this clip the entire season. Torres’ natural position is shortstop. However, he’s been focused on second the last few seasons.
Let Torres work out the issues, and don’t overreact to his defensive troubles in Spring Training. The Yankees are better with an infield of Urshela, Torres, LeMahieu, and Voit than they would be trying to squeeze in Gregorious. Didi was an outstanding player while he was with the Yankees, but the Yankees aren’t second-guessing their decision to let him walk just because of Gleyber’s glove during Spring Training.