New York Yankees: Scouts not heaping praise on Gleyber Torres’s defense, check it out

The New York Yankees decided after the last season not to take up the options for any players, and that included shortstop Didi Gregorius.  After an injury season, the Yankees didn’t make an aggressive attempt to sign him to a new contract, and he remained a free agent until mid-December when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $14 million on a one-year contract deal.

At the same time, the Yankees, along with many other teams, put together an offer to acquire star shortstop Francisco Lindor from the Indians.  The Indians did not accept the offer, and the details of the proposal were never released.   At that point, the Yankees decided on using Gleyber Torres.

Near the end of last season, New York Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman answered questions about Torres and his sophomore year.  Both media and fans alike wondered if he would suffer from a sophomore jinx.  Cashman said he was having a tremendous year, which he was, ending the season with 38 home runs and a batting average of .278.

“I think he’s answered in a resounding way. And he’s displayed his versatility, too. His sophomore season started with him having to fill in for Didi (Gregorius) at shortstop and then swing over to second and, at the same time, still not miss a beat, still thrive with a much better year than last year. It’s pretty impressive.”

The only thing Cashman was leaving out of his rosy assessment was the downside.  He committed 9 errors at 2nd and 11 at shortstop, those aren’t horrible, but they are also not what you want to see from an infielder, especially a shortstop. The eleven figure is for just 77 games played at short.  In comparison, Lindor had 32 homers while batting .286.  Lindor had 10 errors in 312 assists compared to Torres’s 11 errors in only 180 assists.

Enter the 2020 spring training season.  New York Yankee scouts were not thrilled with his performance at short, although he was above average at the plate.  He hit three home runs and batted .320 in seven partial games.  But at shortstop in seven partial games, he committed five errors looking very uncomfortable at his position.  He even missed choppers and overthrew his returns.  One scout said:

“It’s a concern,” said the scout, who requested anonymity so that he could give an honest opinion. “I don’t think it’s a concern that Torres can get routine ground balls or get to the ball and throw the ball. But when you look at a quality shortstop – balls in the hole, choppers that come in, arm with range – when I see Torres play shortstop, I see an adequate defender at best.”

What is odd about this, is that short is his natural position.  But, what happens in the minor leagues doesn’t always translate to the major leagues.  So, now what do the New York Yankees do if Torres can’t field his position.  There are some options, an obvious one would be to move DJ LeMahieu to short and slide Torres over to second where he is a better defender.  DJ has had limited experience at short but is a more versatile athlete.

Other than DJ, the Yankees only have Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe.  Peraza is 19 years old, famous Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter made his major league debut at age 21.  Peraza in 44 games with Charleston hit 2 home runs while batting .273.  He has good defensive skills at short.  The other Anthony Volpe was just signed this year he is very smooth at short but can’t hit.  Volpe is probably a few years off, while Peraza might have to fill in at some point this year.  The Yankees certainly don’t want to lose Gleyber Torres’s bat, but if he’s a flop at short, the negatives might outway the positives.