The Yankees’ Opening Day infield will be Anthony Rizzo at first, Anthony Volpe at short, and some combo of DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, and Josh Donaldson at second and third – and, if Giancarlo Stanton starts in the outfield, perhaps all five will be in the lineup with one at DH.
But that group of infielders brings about an interesting thought, especially with Oswaldo Cabrera and Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the roster and Oswald Peraza bubbling under on Triple-A: could the Yankees trade from their infield depth to fortify a pitching staff missing three of the five starters they were projected to have in the rotation over the winter?
Volpe is a rookie, Donaldson on a high-salary one-year deal would be tough to move, Rizzo isn’t going anywhere, and neither is LeMahieu with his lengthy contract…so that leaves Torres, who has played at an All-Star level at times (especially at the end of last season) but has two years of team control left, this year around $10 million and next year TBD as a fourth-year arbitration eligible.
If the Gleyber who hit .180 in August shows up in April, there will be calls for his head, but if the Gleyber who hit .323 with 25 RBI in September/October shows up, it’ll be good for the Yankees on the scoreboard…and could be good for their leverage, to pry a good starting pitcher away from an infield-needy team like the Rockies, Dodgers, or Mariners.
Tiki & Tierney discussed the possibility of Torres being traded as the best-case scenario for the Yankees on Monday’s show – take a listen above, and weigh in on social media to let us know where you stand!
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