The MLB offseason has been dominated by speculation.
Speculation about the impending lockout, speculation about labor issues affecting free agency signings, and especially, speculation about where the top shortstops on the market will land. Carlos Correa and Corey Seager, the two biggest and brightest stars at the position, are both available, and Seager is repped by agent Scott Boras, a legendary paper chaser. Both Correa and Seager are likely to demand $300 million contracts.
It appears the Yankees will not be the team to hand out that deal, multiple industry sources have told the Daily News.
Boras would love to keep the Yankees, baseball’s historically greatest spender, in the mix for his two biggest clients, Seager and Marcus Semien. But sources have told The News that the Yankees don’t want to commit that much money to a shortstop. With rising shortstop prospects Anthony Volpe (a 20-year-old who just tore up High-A) and Oswald Peraza (who dominated every level of the minors before reaching Triple-A last year) being groomed to eventually take over the position, the Yankees are expected to turn their attention elsewhere.
Sources have indicated that when it comes to Correa in particular, he will not settle for anything less than the $341 million figure that Francisco Lindor got from the Mets. Using that as a benchmark, the Yankees are expected to be out. Hal Steinbrenner already doled out a $324 million deal to Gerrit Cole and is on the hook for at least six more years of Giancarlo Stanton’s monstrous contract, not to mention however much money they may offer Aaron Judge to sign a long-term pact.
With the need to put money aside to invest in Judge, the Yankees are apparently comfortable going with a stopgap defensive shortstop while they wait for Volpe and Peraza to reach the majors. In his virtual media session on Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone specifically mentioned Peraza by name as someone who is “knocking on the door,” and sources have expressed the very real possibility that we see one of the two youngsters wearing pinstripes at some point next year.
“We have two future, longtime impact big-league players,” Boone said of the team’s top two minor league players. “We’re obviously very excited about those players and believe that they are real. That certainly always factors into any decision that the organization and [Brian Cashman] make on trades or free agent acquisitions.”
Hoping that one of the top prospects can be their everyday shortstop by 2023, sources say the team will check in about one-year deals for Andrelton Simmons or Jose Iglesias, both free agents whose gloves have given them long careers. Gleyber Torres’ days as a shortstop are over, mainly because of how poor his defense was in 2021, so adding a defense-first player like Simmons or Iglesias would solve that problem in the short term.
The Yankees were interested in Trevor Story last year but backed off, further evidence that they trust one of Volpe or Peraza to be their answer at shortstop moving forward. With Semien recently hiring Boras to represent him, he can almost assuredly be ruled out as well. There is no way, per sources, that the club chases a top-of the-market infielder when they have two capable players on the way that will receive a fraction of that salary when they eventually reach the bigs.
From a pure business standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense to give out the six-, seven-, or eight-year deal that Correa and Seager will be looking for when shortstop is the one place the Yankees have prospect talent. Industry sources believe center field and pitching will be the Bombers’ top priority in free agency instead. Starling Marte is near the top of that list, but he comes with baggage. Along with being a right-handed hitter, something the Yankees arguably have too many of, Marte also had a 2017 suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. Bringing him into the fold would block the return of Aaron Hicks — the only switch hitter on the 40-man roster, who is also under contract for at least four more years and $40 million dollars — while in turn signaling that the Yankees aren’t ready to trust his surgically-repaired wrist in the lineup every day.
At 33-years-old, Marte is not exactly the type of player that teams want to trust with a lengthy agreement. Should the Yankees offer Marte a contract, it would likely just be a way to bide their time until 18-year-old uber-prospect Jasson Dominguez arrives in the Yankee Stadium outfield.
Cashman said at the recent GM Meetings that he’s done his due diligence on the shortstop class. That’s what the GM of the Yankees has to say. When asked about Correa, Cashman didn’t tip his hand at all, but gave the impression that he’s in, because that is his job.
“He’s a free agent and my job is to assess him, as well as the others that are available, and act accordingly,” Cashman said.
Multiple sources think that acting accordingly, in this case, will be a hard pass. Correa has the financial aspirations of an oil tycoon and the Boras Corporation will engage in contract hardball for Seager and Semien. Sources do not anticipate the Yankees wanting to play, at least for a shortstop.
