The New York Yankees will be without their starting
shortstop Didi Gregorius for at least six weeks, four of those weeks running
into the regular season, after Didi strained his shoulder playing for Team
Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. As we discussed earlier I opined
that it would be foolish, not very fiscally responsible and simply unnecessary
to acquire a shortstop in a trade to replace Didi just for a month so in this
post we will discuss the potential internal replacements for Gregorius and how
the Yankees can mix and match on the field until Gregorius returns from the
disabled list.
On the short list to replace Gregorius on the 25 man roster
you have infielders Tyler Wade, Ronald Torreyes, Pete Kozma, Ruben Tejada and
Rob Refsnyder while the Yankees also have Starlin Castro who will undoubtedly
make the team as either the starting shortstop or the team’s starting second baseman.
Gleyber Torres will not make the club out of spring training as much as many
Yankees fans would like him to and neither will Jorge Mateo unfortunately but
that still gives Yankees manager Joe Girardi an absolute ton of options to
choose from.
Now the likeliest option to occur here is that Castro would
move over to shortstop while some combination of Refsnyder and Torreyes man
second base for the first month of the season. Kozma or Tejada could always
break camp with the team but honestly I think the combination of Refsnyder and
Torreyes could more than fill the job plus fill the jobs on the bench since
both men can play most anywhere in the infield as well as the outfield. Tyler
Wade unfortunately will not be making the team this spring unless a whole lot
happens between now and April 2nd, and it won’t.
The Yankees have already stated that they would prefer Wade
to start the season in Triple-A Scranton after spending the entire 2016 season
in Double-A with the Trenton Thunder. Wade hit just .259 with five home runs
and 27 RBI in 133 games last season in Double-A but he has had a strong spring
training camp and his work ethic and dedication to the game has impressed many
Yankees coaches and players. Will it be enough to snag a roster spot? Not likely.
Not as long as Refsnyder has a minor league option and not as long as Torreyes
is healthy. But hey like the New York lotter, you never know. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)