New York Yankees News/Rumors: Could Luke Voit potentially be on the trading block?

New York Yankees, Luke Voit
Sep 15, 2020; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (59) hits an RBI single during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

One of the New York Yankees top players, DJ LeMahieu, is finally a free agent this offseason. The team would love to bring him back, and doing so could impact the infield. In addition to LeMahieu, the Yankees may have interest in signing another middle infielder, such as Andrelton Simmons. Signing Simmons would put him at shortstop, Gleyber Torres at second, and DJ LeMahieu at first.

If they did a similar move, it could put first-baseman Luke Voit out of a spot to improve team-wide defense. Could he potentially be on the trading block?

A defensive boost

Signing someone like Simmons in addition to LeMahieu would vastly improve the Yankee infield.

Simmons has a career 26.6 career dWAR with four Gold Glove awards and a Platinum Glove award. He also has a career 191 defensive runs saved above average with a .981 fielding percentage. However, Simmons isn’t nearly as good of a hitter, batting .269 with a .696 OPS over his nine-year career.

And of course, we all know how great of a defender DJ LeMahieu is. He has a career 9.0 dWAR with three Gold Glove awards.

Voit is a great hitter but his defense lacks. He has a career -3.4 dWAR, but makes up for it with his offensive production. Offensively, has a .274 average with an .891 OPS. And similarly to Voit, Torres lacks a lot of defensive skills that questions his future at shortstop. Despite a career .271 average and an .834 OPS, Torres has a -0.3 dWAR and has shown to be better at second over shortstop.

So, the Yankees will need to decide whether better offense or defense is more important. Signing Andrelton Simmons and moving Luke Voit would improve the defense, while keeping Voit and simply resigning DJ LeMahieu would better the offense.