So you don’t want the Yankees to bring back Brendan Ryan? He hasn’t hit much since those early days in St. Louis, he’s had some trouble staying healthy lately, and the Yankees have little use for an all-defense guy who can’t do much to help this offense. That seems to be a fairly popular opinion heading into this offseason, and since earlier today we looked at the Yankees’ organizational shortstop situation, we might as well take an early look at the potential backup shortstop situation.
Right now the Yankees have Didi Gregorius, a bunch of young shortstops on the rise, and not much in between. For the time being, they’re going to have to find someone to fill that void on the bench as backup shortstop. Who should it be?
There are several ways the Yankees can go.
1. Trade high-end prospects for a potential impact option
Mostly, this seems to apply to Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernandez, who can play anywhere and crushed lefties this season. He was mostly a second baseman in the minors, but the Yankees wouldn’t need him to play short very often, and his versatility could be extremely helpful especially if he can keep hitting lefties like this (he had reverse big league splits in 2014, but his minor league numbers occasionally showed a tendency toward hitting lefties). Thing is, Hernandez is 24 and has five years of team control. The Yankees aren’t getting him for a left-handed outfielder and a spare reliever. Getting Hernandez is going to cost something real, and there’s no reason to think the Dodgers want to lose him.
2. Sign a second baseman who can double as the backup shortstop
The Yankees don’t necessarily have a hole at second base, but that is a position where they could play a new guy regularly while trusting him to provide occasional depth elsewhere. They could, for example, sign Ben Zobrist to play second base, then occasionally put him at short (with Dustin Ackley or Rob Refsnyder at second). But can Zobrist really play shortstop at this point? What about Asdrubal Cabrera? He’s another free agent, and he played a lot of short this year. Might even be able to help out third base, where he played a little in the minors. Again, though, is he a good enough defensively?
3. Trade for a second baseman who can double as a backup shortstop
This idea seems to center on Cubs infielder Starlin Castro, who was pushed from shortstop to second base this season and could be crowded out entirely by Addison Russell and Javier Baez. He turns 26 in March, so he’s still young, and he was a very good hitter again late in the year. He could become the everyday second base, occasionally playing short when Gregorius needs a day off. It’s a commitment, though. One that would almost certainly block Refsnyder from ever getting a real opportunity. Castro is signed through 2019, and that’s a $60-million deal that gets more expensive each season, so the Yankees are either going to have to eat a huge chunk of salary or give the Cubs something substantial to get them to pay the freight.
4. Sign a utility man with more offensive upside than Ryan
This seems simple enough, but here’s the list of free agents this winter. Where’s the version of Ryan who’s clearly better offensively? Ian Desmond is going to land somewhere with a full-time job at shortstop. He’s not in this conversation for the Yankees unless they’re going to do something drastic — like trade Gregorius — or unless they’re going to convince Desmond to play second. So who? Would Jimmy Rollins take a backup role at this point in his career? Would you want him to?
5. Somewhere, anywhere, just find a utility man who can hit
Alright, alright. If the free agent market doesn’t have the perfect fit, then Brian Cashman needs to work some magic on the trade market. Someone has to be available. They’re utility infielders, for crying out loud. Surely teams aren’t hoarding them. A good place to start might be Houston, where the Astros are locked into two more years of Jed Lowrie but now have Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa playing up the middle. Lowrie could backup at second, third and short, plus he’s a switch hitter who’s occasionally been pretty decent at the plate. Even this season he had a .908 OPS against lefties. He’s been better against lefties in his career, as well. To get out of $7 million per year, the Astros might not demand much in return.
6. Stop overthinking it and just bring back Ryan
He’s not flashy, but he’s not expensive either. At least he can legitimately play the position. Brendan Ryan gives the Yankees a ready solution to the problem. Just give him his $2 million for next year and let Ryan serve as a defensive backup all over the infield. Against an occasional left-handed starter, he can give Gregorius a day off. If the Yankees can’t find a better hitting backup third baseman, he could help out there as well. And he could be a late-inning defensive replacement for either Ackley or Refsnyders should the Yankees stay in house at second base. Ryan’s an easy solution, and he really wasn’t that bad against lefties this year.
7. Just find some guy making the minimum and play him every 10 days
This is probably an oversimplification of the role, but that certainly doesn’t keep it from entering people’s minds. The Yankees got Gregorio Petit off the scrap heap in spring training. Last year, they found Yangervis Solarte on a minor league deal and wound up carrying Dean Anna on Opening Day. Cole Figueroa handled regular shortstop duties in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this year and got some big league time. The Yankees can surely stumble into a vaguely passable shortstop for a tiny amount of playing time. Guys like Cliff Pennington and Clint Barmes are free agents, and if you want to look through extremely rose colored glasses, Cito Culver has a good glove and how bad could Jose Pirela be at short? Of course, worth noting this route would leave the Yankees incredibly vulnerable to an injury to Gregorius.
Associated Press photos
The post The Ryan alternatives: Looking for backup shortstops appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.
