Late Sunday night, the New York Yankees made their first notable move of the offseason (pre- or post-lockout) and reshaped the left side of their infield. Catcher Gary Sánchez and third baseman Gio Urshela went to the Minnesota Twins in a trade for shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, third baseman Josh Donaldson, and catcher Ben Rortvedt. Both teams have announced the trade.
Minnesota acquired Kiner-Fafela from the Texas Rangers two days before flipping him to the Yankees, and the trade suggests they will jump into the mix for Trevor Story. The Yankees are absorbing Donaldson's entire contract (two years and $50 million), giving the Twins the spending room to afford a significant shortstop upgrade. Nifty little move by them.
For the Yankees, the trade makes them better defensively at shortstop, which was a stated priority going into the offseason. Along with the San Francisco Giants, New York is at the forefront of baseball's shift back toward sinkers and changeups, and that equals ground balls. They badly needed to improve their infield defense, and they did that with Kiner-Falefa.
It also feels like there's another shoe waiting to drop. Surely the Yankees have something else coming, right? They still have more infielders than infield spots, not enough lefty hitters, and a catcher tandem that leaves a lot to be desired. Here are four things the Yankees still have to do in the wake of their trade with the Twins.
1. Get Cole and Donaldson on the same page
Following the foreign substance crackdown last summer, Donaldson was the most outspoken hitter in baseball, at one point singling Gerrit Cole out by name. Here's what Donaldson told The Athletic's Dan Hayes last June:
"What these guys are doing now (is) performance-enhancing, to where it is an actual superglue-type of ordeal," Donaldson said. "It's not about command. Now, it's about who's throwing the nastiest pitches, the more unhittable pitches. It's proven."
…
"Is it coincidence that Gerrit Cole's spin rate numbers went down (Thursday) after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?" Donaldson said. "Is that possible? I don't know. Maybe. At the same time, with this situation, they've let guys do it."
Cole and Donaldson faced each other several times following those comments, with Donaldson going 0 for 6 with five strikeouts. At one point Cole appeared to stare Donaldson down following a strikeout. Now they're teammates. Awkward!
The Yankees place a premium on a strong clubhouse culture. There is so much player, coach, and front office staff movement within baseball these days that the Yankees likely have someone(s) in the organization who has a history with Donaldson, and could provide additional insight.
Cole and Donaldson are adults and pros, and they're now on the same team and pulling in the same direction. I think they'll squash this foreign substance beef early, then go about their business. There are 26 guys on a team and they're not all best buddies. I would not bet on this little feud spilling over into something bigger.
2. Find a first baseman
Technically the Yankees have a first baseman in Luke Voit, who led baseball with 22 homers during the 60-game season in 2020. A series of knee injuries limited Voit to 68 games last season, however, and eventually the Yankees stopped waiting around for him to get healthy, and made the Anthony Rizzo trade at the deadline. Rizzo was their starting first baseman the final two months.
With all due respect to Rortvedt, Joey Gallo and switch-hitter Aaron Hicks are the Yankees' only lefty hitters of note. Righty swingers Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and DJ LeMahieu aren't going anywhere and chances are Gleyber Torres isn't either. Donaldson and Kiner-Falefa are two more righties. The Yankees have limited ways to add a lefty bat. First base is the obvious spot to do it.
There are three notable lefty-hitting first basemen on the market:
The best option: Freddie Freeman. Great player who would address many needs, but would require a big long-time deal.The sensible option: Matt Olson. Also a great player who would address many needs, but would require trading prospects.The easy option: Anthony Rizzo. Good player who won't require a significant contract to re-sign.MLB Network's Jon Heyman says the Yankees are "pessimistic" about landing Freeman and have balked at including top prospect Anthony Volpe in an Olson trade package, making Rizzo the likely target. Re-signing Rizzo would give the Yankees another lefty bat and make Voit expendable. He'd be a nice little buy-low trade target for a National League team in the universal DH era.
3. Bring in a catcher
Are the Yankees really going to go with a Rortvedt/Kyle Higashioka platoon behind the plate? They're both excellent pitch-framers and regarded as excellent defensive catchers overall, but the bats are sorely lacking. Rortvedt is a career .241/.316/.355 hitter in the minors and Higashioka has a .234 on-base percentage in parts of five big-league seasons.
Teams are willing to live with poor offense to get good defense behind the plate (the Astros just went to the World Series with Martín Maldonado as their starting backstop), though at some point Rortvedt/Higashioka could become untenable. Here are their 2022 ZiPS projections (reminder that projections aren't predictions, they're an attempt to estimate the player's current talent level):
Kyle Higashioka
.206/.258/.407
79
Ben Rortvedt
.206/.272/.351
69
MLB average catcher in 2021
.229/.305/.391
91
There is a minimum acceptable standard on offense and I'm not sure Higashioka and Rortvedt meet it. The Yankees finished 10th in the American League in runs scored last season and that was with Judge and Stanton staying healthy and mashing. Donaldson will help, though this doesn't look like a powerhouse offense that can afford to punt a lineup spot.
The free agent catcher market is barren and the top names on the trade market include Willson Contreras (Cubs), Carson Kelly (Diamondbacks), and Sean Murphy (Athletics). A package deal that sends Olson and Murphy (and Sean Manaea or Frankie Montas?) to the Yankees would make a lot of sense. It would also require a significant prospect package.
Point is, the Yankees should see what catchers are available, because a Higashioka and Rortvedt platoon strikes me as the kind of thing that seems tolerable on March 14, and makes you wonder what you were thinking on May 14.
4. Add more depth
On paper, the Yankees have five infielders for four spots: Voit at first, Torres at second, Kiner-Falefa at short, Donaldson at third, and LeMahieu as a super utility guy. A lefty-hitting first baseman would push Voit to the bench (or off the team). This is not a problem, it should be noted. Too many good players is a good thing. Injuries happen and there will be plenty of at-bats for everyone.
Assuming the Yankees bring in a lefty-hitting first baseman, the four-man bench would include Voit, LeMahieu, and whichever one of Higashioka and Rortvedt isn't starting. The fourth spot would have to go to an outfielder. The Yankees have Tim Locastro, Ender Inciarte, and prospect Estevan Florial as in-house fourth outfielder options, and don't rule out a Brett Gardner reunion.
The Yankees, like every other team, could use more pitching as well, especially given this truncated spring training that will force teams to begin the season with starters who aren't fully stretched out. Jameson Taillon will start the season on the injured list following offseason ankle surgery, meaning Nestor Cortes Jr. and Domingo Germán are in the rotation. So yeah, more depth is needed. On the bench and on the mound.
