Brian Cashman did an interview on Yankees Hot Stove where he said the Yankees wanted to move Gleyber Torres to third base when the team acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. last year, but Aaron Boone was hesitant to make the move because Gleyber ‘refused to move to third.’
“That’s not news, because Gleyber came out and flat out told the media he did not like the idea of moving to third, but now this is the GM, after Gleyber has left and signed in Detroit, and it’s going to create a story when you say he refused,” Chris McMonigle said Friday. “And now Gleyber has responded with a Tweet saying, ‘this again?’ with a laughing emoji. So he’s tired of it.”
And as much as C-Mac will defend Cashman…yeah, not a great look here.
“It’s not a great look for the general manager to be saying this stuff,” Chris said. “It’s very similar to the comments he made last year about Stanton – we all know it’s true, but it’s counterproductive and feels petty, and it feels like something that needs to be said.”
In reality, Gleyber wasn’t exactly a Gold Glover at second to begin with and Jazz, even though second was his initial position, hadn’t played the infield in a long time, so there was going to be a learning curve either way…but if you’re giving Boone flack for that choice, C-Mac thinks you’re wrong.
“The reaction from fans is bothering me. I agree, Cashman looks petty, and I guess it looks bad for Gleyber too, because now he's not denying it and the GM told the world he flat out refused to move to third base, and because the fan base despises the GM and the manager, this is another excuse to get on the Yankees and say they should have moved Gleyber,” C-Mac said. “I think that’s patently ridiculous. They did the absolute right thing.”
Hindsight is 20/20 but the Yankees did make the World Series and Jazz looked good at third, so…
“From the second Jazz came here, he was a Top 10 third baseman in OPS+, and Gleyber was a top second baseman. Both of them performed. It worked out,” Chris said. “So if you think they should have forced Gleyber to play a position he didn't want to play, I think you're out of your mind. If you think the manager should have forced it when Jazz is willing to make the move, I think you're crazy, because they needed Gleyber Torres to perform offensively.”
Don’t forget, Chris said, that when they moved him back to shortstop in 2020 and 2021, Gleyber suffered on both sides of the ball, so sometimes, placating the ego to get the performance is the right move?
Take a listen to Chris’ entire monologue about it above!