It was almost all about Aaron Judge on Thursday night, but during his media session ahead of Covenant House’s annual Sleep Out, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was asked about the young guns in his infield, top prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe, and where they may fit into the team’s plans in 2023.
“I think we’re all looking forward to seeing what these kids can do competing for a spot in the spring, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to oust who is currently in those spots, either,” Cashman said.
Cashman said the Yankees are “happy with the infield we finished last season with,” and with Anthony Rizzo back in the fold, the Yankees have five options for four spots, although no true backup at shortstop.
However, the GM also said that “we like the young guys that we have coming up,” too, and when you add in that Josh Donaldson is in his final contract year, Gleyber Torres is set to be a free agent after 2024, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s status is up in the air, there could be plenty of opportunity behind those three and DJ LeMahieu.
Peraza got some time in MLB late last season after spending five months in Triple-A, and Volpe moved from Double-A behind him. It’s possible the Yankees take a similar path this year with Volpe, at least, this season, but there’s still a long way to go between now and whenever he makes his MLB debut.
“Experience teaches you a lot. There’s a lot of guys you hope can take the next step and don’t or guys push their way into the mix that may be ahead of their time,” Cashman said. “[Robinson] Cano was one of those guys, Alfonso Soriano was one of those guys. Hopefully the guys that are coming are as good as those former players were. When they're ready you make room for them one way or the other. We look forward to spring training sorting that out, unless I sort it out by then.”
To that last point, Kiner-Falefa is projected to make $6.5 million in arbitration this year, and he may be just short enough on service time to be arbitration-eligible again next winter – so his name has been bandied about as a possible non-tender candidate, which would save the Yankees close to $6 million if they replaced him with a league-minimum player like Peraza, Volpe, or Oswaldo Cabrera.
There could also be a re-visitation of reported talks to deal Torres, whose projection is just under $10 million and is arbitration-eligible for 2024, which could open second base now and either second or third long-term pending the Yankees’ use of LeMahieu.
For now, though, the Yankees are happy to have plenty of options and no pressure to act.
“Clearly, infield is an area of strength for us, more so than probably any other aspect; it went from an area where we were scrambling to an area where we have some high-end young kids pushing up and saying they want it to be their turn now,” Cashman said. “We also have some high-end players sitting in those positions that are more than capable of saying ‘not yet,’ but then you have an entire market of teams looking for help, so we’ll see what happens.”
The GM also said “sprinkle in injuries that always come into play and you’re happy to have the depth,” so who knows where the Yankees’ infield road will lead. Cashman doesn’t necessarily have to do anything between now and next February, but as we’ve learned with him, never say never.
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