At this point, it doesn’t appear the New York Yankees are going to be spending much money to improve the team. Their main priority is re-signing DJ LeMahieu, but at the moment are still relatively far off in accomplishing that. It has been reported that the Yankees are one year shy and $25 million short of what LeMahieu wants to remain with the Yankees. Much of what the Yankees do this offseason will depend upon that deal. For a short audio version of this article, click the audio at the bottom of the page.
The Yankees are likely holding off on other offseason moves until they see if they can re-sign LeMahieu. With the Yankees not likely to spend much money after huge losses last year and an unclear picture of what the 2021 season will look like, that does not preclude them for several trades to improve the team. There have been many rumors out there that made no sense. For instance, many say the Yankees should trade for Josh Bell, a first baseman that the Yankees just do not need.
One intriguing move to think about is if the New York Yankees didn’t sign DJ, leaving the second base unmanned. A second notion could very easily solve that void, that is, to move Gleyber Torres back to his natural playing position, where he is considerably better defensively than at shortstop. If they do that, Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies could be a great fit. Story is a better shortstop than Torres, and the Yankees have successfully gotten players from the Rockies before, think DJ LeMahieu.
The Colorado Rockies have let it be known that they are at least thinking bout making Story available. Story could fit the Yankee’s bill as it wouldn’t break the bank, and the Yankees might get away with trading low-value units for him. Likely, trade could include Miguel Andujar as the lead value. The Yankees don’t have a need for Andujar, and possibly a change in scenery could develop him into the star the Yankees always thought he would be.
Although Andujar would headline that trade, it would also have to include more. Possibly the addition of Clarke Schmidt could make it a great deal for the Rockies. It is likely for the Yankees that they wouldn’t cry losing Andujar, but Schmidt would be a hard loss to take. However, any good and successful trade usually involves some pain for both parties in the trade. Maybe a combination of Luis Gil and Yoendrys Gomez would be more palatable for the Yankees.
Trevor Story is a two-time All-Star and Silver slugger that came in eleventh in the MVP voting. The 28-year-old right-handed shortstop had an excellent season in 2020 that saw many players suffer for one reason or another. For the Rockies, he hit .289 with an OPS of .874. He has a career fielding percentage of .980 compared to Torre’s .949.
Trevor Story is one of the best shortstops in baseball. The below video shows his range.
Trevor Story is a pretty good baseball player pic.twitter.com/4UI5Xo82Se
— RFERG26 (Reid) #AnnieJanuaryDefender ???? (@Rferg26) December 14, 2020
EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam.