Aaron Boone told reporters on Sunday that as things currently stand, Gio Urshela would be the team’s Opening Day shortstop, leaving DJ LeMahieu to handle the hot corner.
It may not be the most inspiring reality for Yankee fans hoping to see the team upgrade before the regular season, especially with two prolific shortstops in Trevor Story and Carlos Correa still on the board, but unless an unexpected move happens in the coming weeks, the Yanks appear ready to once again head into a season without a truly established shortstop.
“We’ve got some young guys that are knocking on the door that we’re really excited about,” Boone said about the outlook of the position. “So we’ll just let that situation shake out. I’m sure there are some things to be done across the game and with us that can potentially change that landscape along the way.”
Boone even said that Gleyber Torres could be “in the mix” to play shortstop, despite his well-known struggles at the position leaving Boone little choice but to move him back to regular second base duties before the end of last season, when his numbers at the plate finally began to improve. Urshela has only played 41 games at short in his career, logging a -1 DRS in that time.
The Yanks appear to have other holes that need addressing, like first base and center field if they are indeed concerned about the durability of Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks, while the starting rotation has its share of question marks as well. But while their crosstown neighbors in the Mets have been pulling off a dizzying array of upgrades this winter, the Yankees have remained dormant, just months after Boone sat behind a microphone and agreed that the team needed to get better “in every aspect.” But on Sunday, Boone was in another familiar spot, fielding questions about how he would assess a fairly inactive offseason after falling short of the organization’s goal.
“The winner is crowned at the end of October,” Boone said when asked what he would say to fans about the team’s lack of moves. “There are a lot of times you could win or lose the offseason, whatever the perception may be. In the end, we want to be the last team standing in October. So, I would say evaluating our offseason and winter is a little premature. With that said, my job as manager is to try t get our guys ready to play at a championship level, and that will be our focus, whether we make a move or we don’t.
“We can win now with what we have.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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