The Yankees shortstop position has been in a state of flux for over a year now. In September of 2021, manager Aaron Boone announced that Gleyber Torres would be moved over to second base. With that new vacancy, many expected the Yankees to acquire one of the five shortstops at the top of last year’s free agent class: Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Javier Baez, Trevor Story and Marcus Semien.
However, as the offseason got underway, reports emerged that the club wasn’t planning to focus its resources on the shortstop position. They had enough confidence in their young prospects Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza they didn’t feel the need to hand out a lengthy contract to fill the position. Instead, they traded for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a glove-first player who had two years of relatively cheap control remaining.
Things went roughly according to plan in 2022, as Kiner-Falefa continued to hit at a below-average level but produced generally solid work with the glove. His .261/.314/.327 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 85, with all those numbers fairly close to his career marks. He made some defensive miscues in the postseason, but Defensive Runs Saved gave him a +10 in the regular season, tied for sixth among MLB shortstops for the year. Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average were less enthused but still had him around league average. He’ll turn 28 in March.
One year later, it seems the long-term plan has not changed. There’s another crop of excellent shortstops this year, with Correa returning to the open market alongside Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. But recent reporting still points to the Yankees having enough faith in their internal options to dedicate their offseason efforts elsewhere. The question that needs to be resolved now is exactly how strong that faith is. Is it time to hand the keys over to the kids or not?
One year ago, Peraza had just eight games of Triple-A experience under his belt. He was sent back to that level to start the 2022 season and eventually got into 99 games. In that time, he hit 19 home runs and stole 33 bases. His batting line was .259/.329/.448 for a wRC+ of 106. He was promoted to the majors late in the season and got into 18 games there. He only went deep once but hit at a .306/.404/.429 level in that small sample for a wRC+ of 146. His batting average on balls in play was .302 in the minors but jumped to .359 in the majors, meaning those improved results seem unsustainable, but it’s encouraging nonetheless. He’ll turn 23 in June.
Volpe finished 2021 at High-A and started 2022 in Double-A. In 110 games there, he went deep 18 times and swiped 44 bags, producing a .251/.348/.472 batting line for a wRC+ of 122. He scuffled after a promotion to Triple-A, hitting just .236/.313/.404 for a wRC+ of 91, but in a small sample of just 22 games. He’ll turn 22 in April.
A surprise entrant into the mix is Oswaldo Cabrera. As a prospect, he wasn’t considered to be at the same level as Peraza and Volpe but he’s shot forward in recent years. In 2021, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 29 home runs and stole 21 bases. His combined batting line was .272/.330/.533 for a wRC+ of 130. He was hitting well in Triple-A again in 2022 and got promoted to the big leagues. In 44 major league games, he hit .247/.312/.429 for a wRC+ of 111 while spending time at all four infield positions and the outfield corners. He’ll turn 24 in March.
With those youngsters being at or near the majors, it’s possible the Yankees don’t feel they need Kiner-Falefa anymore. They did just avoid arbitration with him by giving him a $6MM contract, but they could work out a trade if they feel secure enough in the other options. However, they could also keep IKF around just in case there’s any growing pains with the younger players, eventually sliding him into a utility role over time. Aside from Torres, the other infielders currently on the roster are on the older side, as Josh Donaldson is turning 37 next month while Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu will turn 34 and 35, respectively, during the next season. Regardless of who gets the starting shortstop job, the club will likely want to keep some depth on hand in case any of these players deal with injuries or underperformance, as they all did in 2022.
It’s likely that the job will be awarded based on meritocracy. Whoever plays the best in the spring and then into the regular season will continue to get the playing time. The others can be moved to utility/bench roles, spend more time in the minors or end up traded to another club. It does seem like the plan is likely to work out, as they just need one of these options to take the reins. By not dedicating a nine-figure contract to a shortstop, they will be able to use their financial resources to attempt to retain Aaron Judge and/or pursue other marquee free agents as they look to repeat at AL East champions in 2023.
But who do you think will charge forward as the everyday shortstop in 2023? Cabrera has the most MLB experience at this point but he comes with less prospect pedigree and seems easily capable of moving to other positions. Peraza seems to have little left to prove in the minors but he’s only played 18 MLB games. Volpe only just reached Triple-A but could burst onto the scene next year. Kiner-Falefa is still around if no one else takes the job. So, who will play the most games at shortstop for the Yankees in 2023? Have your say in the poll below.
(poll link for app users)
I’m still with Isiah. I don’t see them making a splash unless Judge goes elswehere.
Definitely Oswald Peraza
None. It’s judge/degrom/verlander or bust. Plain n simple.
Correa, Walker, and Bassitt. IFK is traded.
Who knows? Maybe cash’s seat is getting hot.
IMO, Correa is the safer bet over Judge. But, he proves me wrong time after time.
Correa is not coming, and Judge is not leaving. Plain and simple. Proven wrong yet again.
I need to see your crystal ball. I wonder how often you’re actually right vs. just hot air. Well…always hot air. Prove me wrong.
@TalkingBaseball- My crystal ball is somewhere where the Sun doesn’t shine. Let me take it out for you. Lol. We’ll see what happens.
tbh do you really want degrom, yes when healthy he is a beast, but the last 3 years he has pitched as much as a bullpen arm. i respect degrom when healthy he is tops in the mlb but so was carpenter (chris not matt) but had health issues his whole career. tbh unless i was desperate degrom is the last guy i give a contact to that wasn’t incentive based. if i were the nyy i would give that money to verlander, yes it’s the same risk but at least ver at 40 has shown he can last a full season.
Agreed….Verlander much safer bet and best bargain at nearly 40 million….paying deGrom 40 million would be a huge mistake….
deGrom needs an incentive type deal….base salary of 20 million but if he pitches over 175 innings he unlocks another 20 million….
So 4 years in a row of making every start averaging 6+ innings is wiped out by being out pretty much one year from injury. between 2021 and 2022 season? You must also be writing off Ohtani, Verlander, Cortez, and Severino. You realized Verlander just came back after 2 years. Yes TJ surgery but at his age is unknown territory.
Throwing a few stat out there …. Stats from shorted 2020season – 2022 starts Verlander 29 and Degrom 38 … IP 181 vs 224 … 6.2IP per game, vs 6.7… 1 cy list vs 2 … 40 yrs old vs 34
Oh also Verlander didnt do a full season last season as he hit the IL end of august with calf strain. so he didnt even make it the full season as he missed about 3-4 starts where degrom did not miss a start upon return.
Am i signing degrom to a 10 yr deal, no but he is still a very worthy and capable high end starter. He has shown the extra recovery time was worth it as he did not miss a start upon his return and has shown durability in the past along with that he hasnt lost much with the extended stay on the IL. I would be more confident giving scherzer deal to degrom over verlander especially in NY where he can handle the pressure which we dont know if verlander can as he has only played for detroit and houston and even in houston he was usually a 1a or 1b and didnt shoulder the staff like degrom had to.
I see you blindly ignored the fact that when the Mets needed deGrom to be an ace he crashed, burned and got beaten like a red headed step child against rebuilding power houses like the Pirates, A’s and Cubs. Then with first place on the line against the Braves deGrom again stumbled and fell.
You talk trash about Verlander not needing to “shoulder the staff” but when deGrom needed to, in meaningful games, he pitched like a fifth starter.
He did pitch well and the mets 1 the only game in the playoffs he pitched.
i did not blindly ignore that and yes as stated by someone else the mets won his game in the playoffs. There will always be some ramp up time to get to playing condition. Verlander had almost 2 years plus a spring training to get healthy and ramp up to get up to speed, Degrom did not as he had a set back trying to come back early. and was just only a year. So yes i would still take degrom over verlander in handing out a significant contract.
If you want to bring playoffs into the picture … how did the astros do in Verlanders first outing to set the tone for the playoffs … he didnt make it past 4 innings and gave up double the runs in his one outing than the entire rest of the staff for the rest of that series. meanwhile (and this is a little on the sad side for the team) degrom had the best outing of all the starting pitchers in that series. Also if you look at verlander in the playoffs overall he had one good series out of 3. unless you were looking for an ace to have a 5+ ERA
You people are hilarious… making excuse after excuse.
Then you go “oh look at Verlander game one.. gave up five… he sucks” but then didn’t he rebound with five innings of one run ball…
Jake needed to “ramp up” which would be a semi valid excuse if he sucked at the beginning and not the end.
i didnt forget but i wanted to do an even comparison .. the 1st games of the playoffs for both and well since both only had 1 … for all you know degroms 2nd game could have been a complete game shutout or he could have given up 9 runs in a 1/3 inning (f you tom glavine), but we cant compare that now can we? I guess poor choice of words when i said ramp up but build up stamina which is what i meant by ramp which is building up for a full or in degroms take half a season.
“but then didn’t he rebound with five innings of one run ball…”
im not saying verlander is horrible but im saying i would trust degrom over verlander especially since that is the only game out of 4 he went more than 5 innings. Maybe they were limiting him due to TJ .. im not the coach so i dont know his thoughts but He also hit over 200 innings reg + post season which if memory serves me right the last person to do that after coming back from TJS was Matt Harvey and he ended up needing another procedure in the next season and became well the matt harvey we know today and he was younger when he did his tjs
Would i be happy to have Verlander as a pitcher of course but the question is who would you rather have on a scherzer type deal Verlander or Degrom. Im more trusting to get my money back with Degrom being younger and doing it in NY than Verlander. .
Oh btw you conveniently you left out what happened in verlanders 3rd game. Now what happened that could be relevant? Did he get charged for 5 more runs when he had a 5 run lead and again didnt make it past 5? Yes yes he did .. and yes he came back later and had another 5inning of 1 run (which again is not a quality start as you have to do 7).
Do you mean two years? Why is everyone throwing covid year in there like Degrom was injured?
@mets6986
i gave them benefit of the doubt because no one pitched more than 80 innings so technically no one pitched better than a reliever that year but i am 99% sure they are just pulling things out of a a place that shall not be named based on a prior threads.
Can always flip Isiah Kiner-Falefa back to the Twinkies.
That can take place once the pipe dream the Twins is selling to the fans of them “being in” on one of the four big free agent SS proves to be nothing more than team BS. That way the team can play the “poverty card” to fans when the “We Tried” message is delivered.
If management was smart, they’d kick the tires on Anthony Volpe. They aren’t so it’ll be IKF.
I mean, what’s the rush to start him in the Majors? They have enough viable options that are MLB ready.
Doubt it. Volpe will be groomed as a 2nd basemen, with Peraza playing shortstop. If IKF isn’t traded, he will be a utility player playing 3rd base and shortstop in 2023.
It will be Peraza. Volpe will be their 2b at some point in the 2023 season, but not out of ST.
@Old York- way to early for Volpe to come up now. There’s no rush. Oswald Peraza will man shortstop and Volpe will play 2nd, when he’s ready at the end of the season. Torres will likely be traded for a pitcher or 2, and IKF will be a utility player.
I wanted to select Peraza. I tried to press Peraza. But the Yankee fan in me that knows better subconsciously selected IKF because…. that’s just what we do.
Yankees to fans “We can’t shop the best SS market in years because we have faith in our internal options.
Fans to Yankees: “IKF hasn’t played well, we need to get our internal options experience, why aren’t we bringing them up and starting them?”
Yankees to fans: “Well, they’re young and inexperienced, and we don’t know how they will perform under pressure.”
Fans: “Whaaaat?”
I agree Peraza should start off at SS from what I’ve seen.
YC – spot on
You nailed it Clip. And we know the Yankees love to manipulate service time above all else, other than avoid the luxury tax.
I just hope one of the kids forces their hand by playing so good, or IKF forces the hand by playing so bad, by that I mean, playing even worse than last year. I guess it’s too much to hope that there’s even one individual in the entire Yankee organization, that has some common sense and give the kids a real chance if they’re not going to sign a premier shortstop.
I mean, let’s face it, we know what IKF can do, or should I say, what he cannot do, play good baseball.
I miss Gene Michaels.
I say kind of a failure.
Is that what IKF stands for?
No, IKF stands for I Kan’t Field…. (Or spell, apparently).
IKF has a WAR of 3.0 and people poop on him.
This is a good example of why “WAR” is often a broken stat, especially bWAR in this case. His 1.3 fWAR seems pretty in line with his actual performance.
So poop on him? bWAR and fWAR are week data points too. Probably use wDWFL to measure the true value.
He tries, maybe dont poop on him, but you can poop on the manger for playing him daily.
Yes. Poop on him because he’s poopy.
I just use my patented eye test.
@utah cornelius I don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing.
What is wDWFL?
Walt Disney World Florida?
My head hurts xyzdf, bwapadewawapa. If he fields good then why doesn’t he field good?
Give it a rest with that. What he play a whole month??? Smh.
Twins and Pirates always love them some ex-Yankees, I see IKF flipped to one of them if one of the other 3 pan out in the spring.
The Twins were the team that traded IKF to the Yankees. Although I guess it’s possible they’d want him back if Correa bolts.
Obviously , this whole thing hinges on Judge.
It’ll be IKF because the Yankees hate their fans.
It would be such a great troll move for Big Money Cash to sign Sir Didi to a minors deal
Didi….That is a name I haven’t heard in a loooong time.
-Ben Kenobi
I think if they lose Judge, they get one of the big SS, and for some reason I just see it being Correa because that would be hilarious. If Judge stays, I think they spend the big money on pitching.
Agree!!!!!!
Not losing Judge, and not a need signing a shortstop either. The Yankees need a leadoff hitter In they’re lineup.
Von;
They need to resign pitching coach Matt Blake – the person that is most responsible for their great showing as a team the last few years other than Judge in 2022. He got the most out of their pitchers.
Last year they listened to one of the posters here that for 3 years was writing that they needed to improve their defense to support the pitchers – particularly up the middle…and especially with a catcher that could handle a pitching staff. They got a very good catcher, and a decent MLB SS in IKF. Later in the season they acquired Harrison Bader – a very good defensive CF that hit decently for them.
It appears that they can further upgrade their middle D by primarily playing Peraza @ SS, Volpe @ 2B, and rotating in IKF until they get acclimated. So for sure Gleyber goes somewhere else, probably before the season starts.
As for your pitcher – I don’t see them giving out a long-term contract for the 3 big names – Verlander, deGrom, & Rodon. They’ve been burdened by too many long-term contacts….even have a few they’re waiting to expire. But they surely can use another starting pitcher.
Blake worked with Mike Clevinger in Cleveland; but Ruben Niebla also worked with him there, and couldn’t do anything with him in San Diego this year. The best of the F/A bunch for them would probably be Chris Bassitt – he’s going to have his choice of destinations. So that leaves trades, which I believe will happen….although that might be better to do in-season.
I’m assuming that they resign Judge, and if they don’t do that then the Yankees will be a very ordinary team position player wise.
The perfect fit for the Yankees, imho, is if they signed Judge & also Turner. It’s like the mathematical difference between multiplying the team’s success because of signing players, or having an exponential factor with the right players.
Turner could give them such an advantage they don’t currently have on both sides of the ball. He would be well worth the money, but I seriously doubt they even consider both, let alone do both.
Clip, don’t know how much Dodgers or Nationals you have watched, but Trea Turner is real real good. Close as you’ll get to a Jeter minus a hair on defense. He would kill it in NY I would imagine.
Turner is one of my faves, man. Love the way he plays and the well-rounded offense w/incredible speed. He’s a game-changer.
I would describe him the same way. I was a fan of his when I first saw him on Washington. Speed kills. He has small guy power like Altuve and Pedroia.
Clip many want Turner. I like that idea too. But you know that will not happen, specially if they sign Aaron Judge. It probably wouldn’t happen even if they didn’t sign Aaron Judge. You know how the Yankees operate.
I shudder to think about how Cashman will try to get creative in matching the production of Aaron Judge, should he leave. The last time that happened, when Cano left, not that I wanted the Yankees to sign him at the price he was asking for, to match Seattle’s offer,thought it was absurd. We ended up with more money paid out to worse players.
An over the hill Beltran, who could not even field much less hit, the debacle that was Elsberry, and Brian McCann the catcher. McCann was OK, but certainly not matching the production of Cano in his prime. None of that worked out.
Their top prospects are shortstops and on the verge of the Majors. They are going no where near the top shortstop free agency market.
I’d agree with you normally. But, if Judge leaves, I think they will feel the need to make an offensive splash. The only ones available are SS this year. Nimmo isn’t really top-tier like Turner or Correa offensively.
But, I think they are avoiding that like the plague, which has been proven the past two seasons when they played people {out of position} just to justify not spending on SS.
Their messages regarding their prospects are confounding. Do you have confidence in them & are they the future? Or do we not know what we have yet? They’ve said both depending on the circumstances….. If we don’t know, why haven’t they played Peraza more to see if he’s a viable MLB option then? It’s frustrating to do the circular Cashman logic year-in and year-out.
Urshela
Peraza should be the starter at SS. Keep IKF around to back up short and challenge JD at third. Cabrera IF/OF utility. Volpe up in September for a taste, if he has a strong year in AAA.
That’s the way it should be. But what will Cash do?
Aaron Judge.
If the Yankees resign him, with what the team will have to pay him,
He’ll have to play TWO positions !!
JP Crawford.
Underrated choice- Gleybers my guy but if they unfortunately wanna flip him in a deal for Winker, JP might be in there too depending how much we r willing to give
Peraza and IKF at Major league level, Volpe at Scranton. Brantley going to be player-coach this year, but will be called up for his 9th MLB year and get 10th year next year, and lifetime pension…
Pereza.
Just let Judge walk. Instead sign 1 of the shortstops to a 5 year deal with opt outs. Then sign bellinger in RF and sign velander or degrom or 1…like Rondon SP/ and quality available RP for the pen.
How can the Yankees win w/o Judge?,,,the only one Who hit?
IKF is, at worst, a great utilityman. Maybe not a stellar starter, but if he’s your worst INF starter then you are doing well.
Agreed. IKF is very solid.
He is…. The problem this season was the Yankees problem, not IKF, honestly. They misled the fans, miscast IKF, then told the fans he was someone he clearly wasn’t when it was over.
That whole entire scenario would’ve been avoided had they acquired a real SS for SS and played him in position.
Clip, and maybe we would’ve had a chance to at least win a few games against Houston, if not beat them entirely. The defensive mistakes we made in that series were inexcusable. And could’ve been avoided with some competent players playing in position instead of out of position.
And you’re right about cashman, it’s impossible for a rational sane human being to understand his logic, because there isn’t any, it’s pretzel logic. And his words say one thing, but his actions say something different.
@Dr2022- it’s funny because the Yankees need Judge resigned, Turner signed, and either deGrom/Verlander or Rodon signed, to really compete with the Astros in 2023. Hal has a blind eye to making the Yankees better. Smh
It’s not Hal, maybe it’s the guys he hires.
He’s spending enough money to win.
Really interesting to see what happens to the Yanks. Even with Judge , as season ended not a very good team. Need lots of upgrades.
Are they gonna resign judge and add ?
No Judge will they accept they are in retool mode ? Even if judge goes and they get say a Turner , still a ways away. Basically even. Need way more.
One thing I’ve noticed with the Yankees is that a lot of the prospects that come up and become sustainable big league parts of our club or even become superstars, are more often than not under reported on in the minors or during the draft and they come up as relatively unknown commodities us granular level arm chair analyst fans don’t assume anything about one way or another.
Oswaldo Cabrera wasn’t on the radar like Peraza and Volpe have been. Volpe is beginning to feel like the next Jesus Montero or something like that. We will talk about him being the next generational Yankee SS with his entire career ahead of him right up until we call him up just long enough to give other teams a good look for a mediocre trade haul with a little bit of upside and then it’s on to the next one. That’s just how this is beginning to feel…
The Yankees SS next year needs to be Carlos Correa if they want to win another WS.
They need an anchor on the infield, he’s great with the bat and glove and is a leader! He also actually hits in the playoffs.
Trade Volpe for Corbin Burnes! Yankees need another ace to counter HOU’s staff.
Trade Gleybor and put Peraza at 2B.
Okay. Volpe and who else is going to Milwaukee?
Volpe is a top 5 prospect in ALL of MLB so not a ton more. Probably someone like Schmidt for sure and then 2-3 more depending on their positional needs. One other in the top 10 for sure.
Of course it all depends on Judge. If he stays, then definitely Peraza. If he leaves, I’d sign Trey Turner in a heartbeat. Trade Gleyber for pitching and make Peraza the 2nd baseman. I’d also sign Bellinger to play right. Put Cabrera in left until Donaldson goes and then make him the 3rd baseman. DJ will be super utility with IKF and Hicks on bench if he is still there. And definitely leave Volpe in the minors for another year.
With 3 bona fide SS candidates in the pipeline and at most 2 years away, why you you invest in a long term, big money contract for a free agent SS when the current SS can hold the fort until the prospects are ready and thus freeing up money to be spent on other areas of need.
Because you would need a premier player like Trey Turner to help carry the load with Judge gone. Top 10 player in MLB. After next year, the Yankees will decide where to put Turner, Peraza, and Volpe in the infield. Donaldson and Hicks gone with Cabrera being super utility. The pipeline Shortstops might be very good but Trey Turner is elite and can lead.
Trey Eugene Daniel Turner (born June 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Nationals.
I’d give Peraza first crack at it.
Donaldson with the first two months has 3B. If the decline continues,out he goes.
There’s more Oswald here than in the Zapruder film.
Xander. Judge will go to LA.
It will be IKF so the boo birds come out in force and then they can blame the fans for the same management/team construction failures that have plagued this team for decades.
Derek Jeter….he’s coming back!
If Xander Bogaerts is playing SS for NYY in 2023, months I’ll be done with MLB at least until that contract expires.
Xander Bogaerts on the NYY is a silly reason to quit the sport, even temporarily. Quitting baseball over the extra innings ghost runner would be a better reason and even that’s not enough.
So it’s still a secret…… Cashmans’ plan to snatch that superstar Javier Baez from the depths of Commerica Park.
You gotta admire the way Cashman operates……
HUH?
What in earth needs to be.moderated?
Like the Dodgers, they’ll just buy someone.
Darragh, when you’re 80, are people going to be calling you Old McDonald?
It may not be 2023, but Volpe is going to be their starting SS for a long time IMHO. I just like him better as a shortstop than the others. And I love his makeup (he wears mascara ha). I don’t expect him to make the team right out of the chute; however, I do feel he will be the long-term answer. Feel free to disagree with me Yankees fans, but that’s how I feel.
So, the Yankees (Hal, specifically) say they will bring Judge back if it’s feasible. This implies affordability. While I understand what he’s saying, the Yankees are now invested in soccer as well as partnering in a casino on Coney Island, reportedly.
So in addition to the $8 BILLION dollars in revenue streams from MLB, they have these additional sources of investment income. No Yankee fan wants to hear you can’t afford it, and the $265M payroll response is a laughable counterpoint to the challenge of having a losing season every year.
Stop trying to acquire just enough talent to win, and just get the players we need, please.
Happy Thanksgiving, Halbert. I hope you can afford a big enough turkey to feed the whole family.
Well said clip. that’s it in a nutshell. The Yankees operate as if they’re concerned to be just good enough to win, but never go the extra mile to win at all. And that would be fine if that was their stated goal, but it is not their stated goal, they contradict this by stating they will be fielding a championship caliber team every year lol.
A commenter here said they missed gene Michael. It is understandable why. He knew what he was doing, unlike Cashman ,he was quite the talent evaluator. Even Cashman has admitted it that’s not one of his strong suits. Which kind of begs the question then, why is he there. Isn’t that one of the jobs of a GM. Unfortunately those days of gene michael, at least for the Yankees, are over.
Need to sign Addison Russell,