A caller declared to Sal Licata and Chris McMonigle that the Yankees need to prioritize shoring up their defense, particularly up the middle, meaning that they won’t miss Gleyber Torres at second base.
Both Sal and C-Mac stopped the caller at the Yanks not missing Torres’ bat, especially after he was one of the team’s best hitters throughout the 2024 postseason.
“You have to figure out how to replace the offense in an offense that led the American league in runs scored, and still wasn’t good enough to win the World Series,” C-Mac said. “You have to replace his offense. You absolutely have to.
“Any Yankee fan who could actually have a conversation with me and say it’s not about offense in the playoffs, I’m sorry, that’s the end of the conversation. This goes back before Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge. When they lose in the playoffs, it’s almost exclusively because they don’t hit.”
Sal has been highly critical of Torres throughout his Yankee tenure, but even he noted that Torres’ bat is a plus, and with an offense that just lost Juan Soto, the majority of their main offensive contributors from the playoffs are currently not on the roster.
“Two of those three are gone!” Sal said, noting that only Giancarlo Stanton remains from the team’s best October bats. “And you’re saying the offense is better because they added Cody Bellinger?
“Did they pitch? I was watching one of the best bullpens in baseball, maybe the best bullpen in baseball, in the postseason. That wasn’t a problem for the Yankees. Even the starters. If Rodon didn’t go long because he wasn’t that good, it wasn’t a problem because the bullpen was so good.”
C-Mac agrees that Torres is a flawed player, but to say that the Yankees wouldn’t miss his bat is taking it too far.
“The Yankees pitched their ass off the entire postseason,” C-Mac said. “It’s about the offense. It always is.”