The Yankees Have Their Eye On A New Shortstop

I like rumors and I am ready to see some action this winter….but this one isn’t one that excites me.
The Yankees have immediate needs to address with DJ LeMahieu, and they need more pitching so they should be considering Masahiro Tanaka right now too. Instead…they are checking in on a shortstop.

The Yankees are “interested” in Andrelton Simmons, read more HERE. The Yankees should be interested in adding a shortstop so they can move Gleyber Torres out because that’s the right move. Torres finished in the bottom two percentile in outs above average, so he’s definitely not a great shortstop option. The Yankees infield is better with Torres back at second, but that complicates the infield puzzle even more if the Yankees can bring LeMahieu back….and we need him back.

The Yankees need a shortstop upgrade, and Simmons has a great glove so he is a fit on paper. He’s earned Four Gold Gloves in his career, two with the Angels and two with the Braves. Baseball insiders call Simmons the best defensive shortstop in the game, and I don’t disagree. Simmons does have 191 career defensive runs saved in nine MLB seasons but I just wish he had a better bat and could stay healthy to go along with it.

I have concerns with Simmons. He doesn’t offer much offensively, and we already have enough lagging bats like Gary Sanchez. This season he started in 30 games, had a .297BA in 127 plate appearances. The average sounds nice but the sample size is small. His career average is .269 BA and he has a tendency to be a rally killer. Since 2017 he’s been one of the worst players at hitting into double plays. The Yankees have had their fair share of offensive woes in the past. I’m not sure adding a good glove in place of offense really makes the most sense.

Another concern, is his injury history. He’s had three left ankle sprains over the past two seasons and the Angels didn’t even extend him a qualifying offer. The Angels are ready to move on from Simmons, and are rumored to be interested in Didi Gregorius, but who isn’t interested in Didi at this point?

I’m not really sold on Simmons. Good defense is always a nice draw, but I’d rather try and re-sign LeMahieu, keep Torres at shortstop for another year and revisit shortstop in 2021 because the class of available shortstop free agents is extremely exciting.

But maybe I am being too harsh. Should the Yankees take a chance on Simmons? If you think so, tell me why because right now I’m just not feeling it.