Three Moves the Yankees Should Make Now…and Why!
Mid May Thoughts by Cary Greene
May 15, 2024
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When the Yankees' Anthony Volpe ascended to the leadoff spot in the lineup, the Yankees hoped to catch some lightning in a bottle, as he was off to a hot start to the season. He’s since cooled off considerably, slashing .204/.281/.340 with a .621 OPS since April 16th. It’s become clear that Volpe isn’t yet a leadoff hitter at this early juncture in his career. Perhaps the Yankees should move him down into the lower third in the lineup and Brian Cashman should do something he rarely does early in a season. It’s actually the perfect time to look for an internal solution that would actually kill two birds with one stone.
Before I reveal the move that should be made immediately, let’s look at the StatCast page of a player who is currently starting on a daily basis for the Yankees and is slashing .208/.289/.273 with a 562 OPS and only 2 home runs with 10 RBI’s.
Down on the farm in Scranton there exists a slap hitting on base machine who is slashing .296/.420/.444 with an .863 OPS by the name of Caleb Durbin. Is he 2019 live-ball era Gleyber Torres or even 2023 Torres? NO! But it’s 2024, and it’s time to for once, pull the plug preventatively and in this case, Durbin could be inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup and installed at second base and Torres could be offloaded for whatever Cashman can get for him at this point.
Considering Torres’s trade value has plummeted down to $4.2 MTV per Baseball Trade Values, perhaps the return on Torres isn’t anywhere near what it would have been if Torres had been traded this offseason, but now is the time to get whatever scraps can be salvaged. If Cashman waits, the MTV return on a Torres trade at the deadline may well be below $1 MTV. Meanwhile, Durbin is having an exiting season in the Minor Leagues and he should be given a chance to ignite the Yankees offense. If Durbin fails, Cashman could then attempt to land a leadoff hitter at the trade deadline.
There’s no guarantee that Durbin is the answer at second base, but moving on from Torres is a low risk, potentially high reward proposition and if the Yankees goal is to win a championship, pulling the trigger sooner than later on a Torres trade (or DFA) is the way to go.
The Yankees also need to seriously consider DFAing Giancarlo Stanton. Age has seemingly caught up with him and he’s now clogging the DH spot in the lineup like never before. It may be a stretch to consider the struggling Alex Bregman an upgrade, but a change of scenery might help the slugging third baseman, who is mired in an awful .294 wOBA/79 wRC+ season to date which spans a mere 147 at bats. Chances are (if he’s truly healthy), he’ll soon start producing like the back of his baseball card says he’s capable of. Let’s face it, the Yankees need a third baseman and Bregman, when right, is a plus defender who is a whale of an offensive force of nature.
Would Cashman offload or DFA Torres, then promote Durbin and follow that up by DFAing Giancarlo Stanton and then pulling off a creative deal with the hated Astros for their struggling, former two time All-Star third baseman who happens to be in his walk year? Bregman’s is listed at $3.5 MTV presently, perhaps he could be had for a relatively small outlay in a direct trade with the Astros, or even in a three-way deal if necessary.
While Bregman is playing significantly worse than Oswaldo Cabrera is at this point in the season, my money is on Bregman rounding back into form if he’s fit to do so. He represents low hanging fruit in a sense and Cashman ought to pounce on what is presently a golden opportunity. If Bregman continues to falter, the Yankees could easily slot in a replacement level third baseman and cut their losses. It’s time to make some moves before it’s too costly and eventually, too late. So in a nutshell, I’m proposing:
1. Torres be traded or DFA’d.
2. Durbin be promoted and used as a leadoff hitter up until the Trade Deadline.
3. Cashman should target Alex Bregman and make every attempt to trade for him.
Let’s hash this out today in the comments section below! Am I off my rocker or am I spot on? Or somewhere in between?
Here's a wildly outlandish trade proposal, taken from a reply to Jeff's post below. Posting it here for fear that folks may miss it. The thinking is that DJ LeMahieu could be used either at second base, or as the teams utility infielder. This makes Nick Burdi expendable. Would Caleb Durbin still be a candidate to be promoted if this trade happened? Probably unlikely as LeMahieu would probably be used a lot at his natural position, considering he still has very good range per StatCast.
...the Yankees might be able to pull off this trade with the Astros, using the Giants as a third team, contingent upon Stanton agreeing to go Houston (which he might). It's worth exploring, IMHO. Houston…
You ain't crazy but I don't think Bregman will be in pinstripes, but Torres can be traded and the Yankee lineup is heating up, so Durbin could be a productive as a replacement. Torres looks like he is going through the motions right now and the Stanton scenarios have been beaten to death, but Cashman moving him to another team seems more likely than an outright release.
You're off your Rocker !!! Gleybar is just starting to come around, he's in his walk year, many teams will/do want him, Stanton is still owed a mountain of money 💰 💰, which no GM, or Owner is going to eat, not to mention,he's finally pulling his weight, , . Your magic formula aren't nearly as magical as you think.!!! Also Bergman, is doing worse than Gleybar, gets paid a ton of money 💰 💵, which the Yankees will have to match plus 10%.. I hope you never run any team...!!!
I definitely don’t think that trading for Bregman is in the cards for this organization. Between Gleyber, DJ, Cabrera, Peraza, Vivas & Durbin, I think the Yankees have more than a few options to play 2B/3B. I’m still hoping that this latest uptick from Torres is a sign of things to come. If his hand is finally healthy, hopefully he’ll be stronger over the next 100 games than he was over the first 50 plus.
Yes, Volpe did slump starting in mid-April. However, in the month of May, he is slashing .265/.333/.469/.803. He currently owns a 7-game hitting streak, during which time he is slashing .344/.382/.625/1.007. So what we have is March 28-April 15, great; April 16-May 1, terrible; May 2-14, great. So for nearly 7 weeks, all but 16 days have been great. He looks like a real lead-off hitter.