The New York Yankees have to make a big move this off-season to solve the shortstop position after years of trying to fill it with homegrown talent. The hope was that Gleyber Torres would be able to hold down the spot for years to come, but his inconsistencies have forced the Bombers into making a transition, which ended up being third baseman Gio Urshela during the latter portion of the 2021 season.
At this point in time, the front office needs to be thinking about the future, and with several quality options on the market this off-season, I wouldn’t be surprised Yankees tried to go after the best of the bunch.
Unless management wants to go in a cheaper direction, Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa could be a primary target, despite other teams’ obvious interest. At 27-years-old, Correa is the former first overall pick in the 2012 June Amateur Draft, and now he’s looking to cash in on a long-term deal. After spending the last seven seasons with the Astros, Correa posted a .279 average with 26 homers and 92 RBIs this past season. He recorded 94 singles and 34 doubles while striking out a career-low 18.1%.
Correa has already indicated that he is seeking a massive deal, and with the Yankees already tied up with Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, and Gerrit Cole over the next half-decade or so, it is also probable they won’t have the funds to make a run at him.
“A lot of people don’t believe in 10-year contracts and in long-term deals and all that,” Correa said. “But when you look at most of the 10-year contracts they’ve been giving out, the long-term deals, they’re players that are 31, 30, 32. I’m going to be 27 on my first year. I’m young, I’m healthy, and I perform. So we’ll see what happens.”
Correa has already begun testing the market with choice words, indicating his love for the “stripes,†avoiding to mention if they were Yankees pinstripes or the orange and blue of the New York Mets.