The Yankees are starting out shopping in the luxury aisle this winter. GM Brian Cashman told reporters at the GM meetings in California that the team has already had talks with the agents for two shortstops since the free agency market opened on Sunday night. The agents representing Carlos Correa and Corey Seager, according to MLB Network’s Jim Bowden.
To fill the hole left by Gleyber Torres’ struggles the last two years the Yankees seem to at least be aiming high. Both will require expensive, multi-year deals and they come with the extra baggage of having been given a qualifying offer, meaning it will also cost the Yankees draft picks.
At just 27, Correa is going to be a foundation for an organization for years to come when he signs this winter. He will be a solid building block having slashed .279/.366/.485 with 26 home runs this season. He’s rated as one of the league’s best with the glove for the past few seasons. He finished the 2021 regular season with the top WAR, according to Baseball Reference.
Correa turned down a five-year, $160 million extension offer from the Astros, according to reports.
But it’s not just time and money the Yankees would have to invest in Correa, it would also be forgiveness. Correa was also the face of the Astros’ 2017-18 cheating scandal, which still burns the Yankees. It’s hard to imagine Correa in a Yankees clubhouse full of players who were very vocal in their belief that the Astros cheated them out of a trip to the World Series.
Seager has always seemed like the best fit for the Yankees all along.
The 2020 World Series MVP, Seager is a left-handed power bat who rarely strikes out and draws plenty of walks. Seager hit .306/.394/.521 over 409 plate appearances this season, missing time with a fractured right hand. His glove has been rated average to slightly below average the last few seasons, but his proven offense has been able to overcome that.
Also, Seager can move to third base when one of the Yankees’ young shortstop prospects — Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza — is ready.
While the Yankees may have hit the ground running this offseason by reaching out to two obvious candidates, it doesn’t mean that is where they will end up. The Dodgers and Astros are now also on the hunt for a shortstop. The Tigers are said to be entertaining the idea of reuniting Correa with former Astros manager A.J. Hinch.
There are other shortstops available including American League MVP candidate Marcus Semien, Trevor Story and Javier Baez, as well as lower-level veterans like Freddy Galvis and Andrelton Simmons.
The Yankees also have to figure out what they are going to do with Torres. Having signed DJ LeMahieu to a six-year, $90 million deal in January, having to move Torres to second throws LeMahieu into positions — third and first — where he gives the Yankees less bang for their buck.
It was a gamble the Yankees tried for two seasons, but finally admitted defeat when they moved Torres in September.
Torres had a breakout season playing almost half the year at shortstop in 2019, hitting a career-high 38 home runs and slashing .278/.337/.535 with an .871 OPS. That power was enough for the Yankees to overlook his defensive woes and let Didi Gregorious walk as a free agent.
But his power disappeared.
Torres has hit 12 home runs over the last two seasons.
In 2020, the Yankees — and to be fair other teams’ talent evaluators — felt that Torres was just hindered by the fact he showed up after the COVID-19 spring training shutdown out of shape and that resulted in a leg injury.
This season, in 127 games, Torres had nine homers and 51 RBI. He slashed .259/.331/.366 with a .697 OPS. He also had a career-high 14 stolen bases.
