Shortstop For The Yankees Is Not A Sure Thing

The 2023 Yankees have a lot of depth at the middle infielder position. And guess what, it is a good problem to have. I have my own insights and evidence about what the Yankees should do at shortstop. Some of this I shared with The Bleed Blue Dugout- 2023 Spring Training Podcast on Monday night among other considerations. Nothing in baseball is a sure thing and this season, shortstop certainly isn’t.

It is worth saying that the last time the Yankees went with a rookie as the regular at short, it was Derek Jeter. He had a lackluster spring training, but he emerged as the best potential for the Yankees. And the brass was right, clearly. Now there are three guys vying for the position—one is a veteran, one is a semi-rookie and one is a straight up rookie. And just because we had a guy at that position last year and that same guy is on the team, it is not a sure thing that he will be the starting shortstop on March 30th, the season opener.

“If Kiner-Falefa emerges from this camp as the starter, it will be the first loss for the 2023 Yankees,” reported The New York Post on Tuesday. I can’t say I disagree. The Yankees have two great young shortstops in Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe in their arsenal and each of them are equally capable in fulfilling additional roles at third or even second base. So why would they go with a veteran when they clearly saw he was unable to fulfill his role when things really counted down the stretch?

“Plus, the Yankees should have learned a Gary Sanchez lesson. They determined he was not mentally/physically up to holding the starting catching job in the 2020 playoffs, yet detrimentally brought him back the next year. The Yanks are trying to win a championship and if they lose faith a player can handle that time of year, then that player has to go. Last year, this happened with Kiner-Falefa,” reported to The New York Post. 

This has become the Yankees MO. They think the player will somehow come out of this trace or will drop the habits that have been their undoing. Yet, they don’t. Sure we can point to Sanchez as exhibit A but you also have to add Aaron Hicks and Josh Donaldson to exhibits B and C respectively. One of those has to get DFA’d before the All Star Break. Or I owe my son a top shelf lunch. 

If the Yankees start IKF, I believe it is just to make a statement—that he is tradable and can be valuable to another team who does not have the infield depth the Yankees have. And the Yankees have also said that just because you start a position, does not mean you won the position. It is a long season. And nothing is a sure thing.

“We’re early,” manager Aaron Boone said Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s off day. “I’ve seen a lot of things that I like, but I also want it to just play out. Right now looking at it as, I gotta get these guys ready for their season in the best possible way. Then as we get closer and closer and we start having those debates or conversations in more earnest, we’ll do that. But right now, I try to treat it as making sure these guys are getting the right number of looks, at-bats, built up properly, in a position to physically be in a good spot as we continue to move forward,” reported The New York Post. 

The Yankees will give all three guys a shot in the next stretch of games. And the decisions of who emerges as the starting shortstop on day one will just have to wait. Volpe may just need a little more game time in Triple A, Peraza will likely make the team as his defense is far superior than IKF and IKF could just be a placeholder until Volpe is ready. It is an interesting circle of possibilities with no guarantees.

–Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof