Shutdown Yanks have plenty of holes to fill
Major League Baseball shut down late Wednesday night, and while other teams — including the Red Sox — made moves down to the wire, the Yankees were quiet, just as they’ve been all offseason.
For a team that general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged needs a considerable makeover, that means it will have significant work to do once MLB and the players’ association agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The winter meetings, scheduled to begin Monday, were officially canceled shortly after the owners instituted a lockout, since no moves can be made during a work stoppage. The bad news for the Yankees is that, in areas of need, including shortstop, center field, catcher and possibly the rotation, some potential targets have come off the board.
On the positive side, there are other positions — including first base — at which the Yankees are looking to upgrade with plenty of remaining options.
As Cashman and manager Aaron Boone have repeated throughout the offseason, their primary need is at shortstop, although they haven’t been in on any of the top free agents who signed, from Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, who both signed with Texas, to Javier Baez, who signed with Detroit.
Still, the best of the bunch, Carlos Correa, headed into the lockout without a new deal. And one possible landing spot, Detroit, is no longer a threat to the Yankees after Baez took that spot.
After the Astros low-balled Correa with a five-year, $160 million offer before he hit the open market, a reunion there seems unlikely.
There remains uncertainty about whether the Yankees would be willing to add a huge deal to go along with Gerrit Cole and — to a lesser extent — Giancarlo Stanton, as well as a potential costly extension for Aaron Judge.
The Dodgers, having lost Seager to the Rangers, could swoop in, but they have Trea Turner to play short. The Red Sox and Angels are two other possibilities for Correa.
Trevor Story is the other premier shortstop available.
If the Yankees don’t go in that direction and instead look for a cheap stopgap before the anticipated arrival of prospects Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza, Andrelton Simmons could still be had, as could Jose Iglesias. Freddy Galvis reportedly agreed to a deal to play in Japan.
In center field, they have Aaron Hicks playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, but upgrades in free agency and on the trade market have disappeared after Starling Marte signed with the Mets and Byron Buxton inked an extension to stay with the Twins.
The Yankees have been linked to Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, but the Pirates seem unlikely to deal a good, young asset.
The first-base situation is brighter, since there has been little movement around the league on that front. At the top of the list is Freddie Freeman, somewhat stunningly still unsigned despite a stated desire to stay in Atlanta after leading the Braves to their first title in over 25 years.
Then there’s Matt Olson, who figures to be part of a fire sale in Oakland, whenever the Athletics get around to it.
The Yankees could also just look to bring back Anthony Rizzo, a free agent, after he played well in The Bronx following his July acquisition from the Cubs. And Kyle Schwarber played first with the Red Sox after he went from Washington to Boston.
The catching situation is set for now, it seems, after the Yankees tendered Gary Sanchez a contract, but they still could either look to trade him later in the offseason or release him in the spring.
Willson Contreras looks expendable after the Cubs signed Yan Gomes.