The New York Yankees felt the need to replace shortstop Gleyber Torres down the stretch last year, and move him to another position. His friend, Gio Urshela, played the infield’s most important position in the last few weeks of the 2021 campaign, as Torres struggled both offensively and defensively.
Moving Torres out of shortstop seemed to take some of the pressure off him, as he was better at second base and also started to hit a little .280/.339/.420, .759 OPS, 108 wRC+ in September compared to .259/.331/.366, a .697 OPS and a 94 wRC+ in the year as a whole.
Now, the Yankees are looking for a shortstop for the 2022 season. They were reportedly after Corey Seager before he signed with the Texas Rangers, and remain very interested in Carlos Correa and Trevor Story.
Will the Yankees shop for a shortstop or promote one of their prospects?
The Yankees also have some internal options, although it’s unclear if they are ready to be starters on the majors’ most winning franchise. Oswald Peraza is closer to the majors than Anthony Volpe, who is seen as the best prospect.
Torres, however, doesn’t care who the Yankees sign or bring: he just wants that person to help the team take the next step and win the World Series.
Gleyber told the New York Daily News (link to NJ Advance Media article here) that “whatever guy comes into the team, an awesome minor league guy or a guy from another organization or from free agency, I hope that guy can come to the team and help us to win the World Series. That is the only thing that matters to me. I just want to win. Whatever people come into the team, I want them to do well and help us win a World Series.”
The Yankees have also considered signing a stopgap shortstop, like Andrelton Simmons, to wait for Peraza and Volpe, and could reallocate the funds they would spend in a big shortstop to a first baseman, outfielder, or pitcher.