The Case for Staying the Course at Second Base
If I told you there was a free agent second baseman available who literally just turned 28, had a solid offensive track record, and was coming off a ‘down year’ that was mostly influenced by a poor start, you would probably want to jump on him as a ‘buy low’ type contract, right?
If you’re reading this post, you likely know whom I’m talking about and will likely agree with what I’m going to argue, regardless of how I phrase it or lay it out. The Yankees should re-sign Gleyber Torres to continue his tenure as their second baseman.
The most obvious reason is that the second base situation is more or less completely up in the air. A simple solution does exist if the Yankees just move Jazz Chisholm back to second base, but that just opens up a hole a third base, which doesn’t solve anything and just shifts the problem over to the other side of the diamond. And now with Caleb Durbin shipped off to Milwaukee along Nestor Cortes in exchange for Devin Williams, the internal options are…Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera? The latter is a great guy to have on the end of a roster, but he will get and has been exposed with extended playing time. The Yankees have all but cast Peraza off and I would be legitimately shocked if he were the starting second baseman—or even on the roster—come Opening Day. The free agent situation is Bleak when it comes to second basemen, too, and I’m not even going to try to predict the trade market.
Let’s start in earnest by acknowledging the negatives. There’s clearly something that has soured in the relationship between the Yankees and Torres; you don’t need to be some sort of insider to glean that. Then, there’s the fact that Torres isn’t the greatest defender and second base and his base running leaves more than a little something to be desired. Those are obvious concerns that likely aren’t going away. Despite them, I still think Torres is the best player for the job.
Aside from second base, the Yankee infield is full of question marks. As of now, Ben Rice is the team’s starting first baseman. Anthony Volpe is there at shortstop, of course, and while his defense is superb, he’s yet to truly settle in offensively. And while Jazz is coming off a great debut partial season with the Yankees, he’s often injured. With that many questions marks, something sure and steady in the lineup would be welcome, and that’s definitely Torres.
He had a horrid April (62 wRC+) but bounced back to end up with a 104 wRC+ and after April, he had a more or less typical Gleyber Torres year at the plate (114 wRC+), albeit with reduced power; his .121 ISO this year was his second lowest ever. On the other side of things, he posted a second straight year of a strong walk rate, showing some potential maturity in his offensive game. Additionally, once moved into the leadoff spot where that walk rate and increased patience could be put to use, Gleyber stabilized that important spot in the lineup and helped set up Juan Soto and Aaron Judge for driving in runs. Stability is the key here along with risk mitigation.
The Yankees know what Torres is and what they can expect from him. Just about all the other options, including possible trades, come with a lot more risk than just bringing back the guy who’s prove he’s right for the job over the last seven seasons. While losing Soto made a dent in these plans, the Yankees—as they should and do every year—have championship aspirations. Now is not the time to roll the dice with an up the middle position. Bring Gleyber home.