There’s plenty of buzz around the Hot Stove right now, from just where Roki Sasaki will eventually sign to Pete Alonso’s future with the New York Mets and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s future with the Toronto Blue Jays. But very little of that buzz is focused on the New York Yankees, who remain in something of a holding pattern as Brian Cashman waits out the market to fill the team’s final few needs.
How will Cashman address the team’s infield situation? What other moves could be coming ahead of Spring Training? Let’s dive in.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
Yankees news: New York among potential suitors for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. if Blue Jays talks break down
It’s time for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays to get down to brass tacks, with the start of Spring Training — Vladdy’s self-imposed deadline by which extension talks will end — less than a month away and deep-pocketed teams like the New York Mets finding themselves conspicuously in need of a long-term answer at first base.
But the Mets aren’t the only ones circling these particular waters. According to an update from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, “If Guerrero does get to free agency, the Mets and some Soto also-rans — including the Red Sox and Yankees — are logical pursuers.” Heyman adds that, while Guerrero Jr. had some less-than-kind things to say about the Yankees a couple of years ago, that’s all water under the bridge now, whether due to a change of heart or a desire to preserve as much leverage in future contract negotiations as possible.
The fact that New York would be interested in Vladdy if he becomes available is hardly a shock; Paul Goldschmidt is clearly a stop-gap at the position, one that the Yankees have been looking for answers at more or less since Greg Bird failed to pan out. But Guerrero Jr. figures to be very much sought after next winter if the Jays do let him leave, and Hal Steinbrenner has already lost one free-agent negotiation to Steve Cohen.
Yankees news: Pirates’ KeBryan Hayes emerges as intriguing infield fit
Elsewhere in the infield, the search for a Gleyber Torres replacement trudges on, with Brian Cashman seemingly content to let the market play out and head into Spring Training with DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera if he has to. Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado don’t appear to be on the table, while names like Ha-Seong Kim, Luis Arraez and Jorge Polanco have come and gone in recent weeks.
There’s now another name to add to that list, however, one that could present an intriguing fit: Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman KeBryan Hayes, who Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay recently suggested may be available via trade.
