It’s becoming increasingly rare for teams to win at the Major League level without a shortstop.
Even if your shortstop isn’t a stratospheric superstar, getting either superb glove work or pumped up power is basically a requirement now. While Atlanta won the World Series with Dansby Swanson — maybe the 12th or 13th best shortstop in the game — his 27 home runs and two in the World Series were more than enough to get them over the hump, especially when paired with his steady defense and all-world teammates.
The Big Apple’s teams are in drastically different places with their shortstops. The Mets are married to Francisco Lindor for the next ten years unless they can convince someone to take on his contract, which pays the shortstop until he’s 37. The Yankees, meanwhile, are at an all-important crossroads. The team is a little bit too good, and the franchise is far too proud, for a full rebuild. Yet, it was clear some time around July that the Bombers needed to shake things up at shortstop.
Gleyber Torres’ second straight season of absentee power and atrocious defense came right before a bevy of talented shortstops became free agents. But the Yankees sat on their hands and watched Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Javier Baez all sign with other American League teams before the lockout. The only remaining unsigned options at the big boy table are Carlos Correa (who recently signed with agent Scott Boras and will demand a king’s ransom, likely taking the Yankees out of participation) and Trevor Story.
Story is a tremendous player but one with a history of injuries to his throwing arm, and as per usual, a career Rockie brings skepticism about how their offense will carry over into non-Coors Field stadiums. Story could be attained for much less money than Correa, not that that should matter to the Yankees anyway. But if the team really is insistent on penny pinching and rolling with a stopgap shortstop in 2022, that places a world of pressure on Oswaldo Cabrera, Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza.
None of those three players, the most MLB-adjacent infield prospects in the Yankees’ system who are all gunning to one day be the starting shortstop, are older than 22. The last time the Yankees called up a peach-fuzzed shortstop to the big leagues, they got 24 home runs and an All-Star season from rookie Torres, who has become a liability just three years later. This puts the team in a precarious spot: needing a shortstop sooner than later but also not wanting to rush someone up too quickly and stunt their development.
It is certainly better to have a trio of ascending players in the minors than to have a bare cupboard. But minor leaguers are anything but a sure thing, and while a defensive stalwart would benefit the Yankees next year, seeing someone like Andrelton Simmons out there would only provide a physical reminder to fans that they missed out on the hot shots of the vaunted 2022 free agent class.
Depending on how the season plays out, the Yankees will find themselves either waiting for Cabrera, Volpe or Peraza to be the missing piece in an otherwise complete puzzle, or they’ll be waiting for them to arrive and be a much-needed fresh start, injecting fresh blood into a flatlining team. The Mets, on the other hand, have their shortstop of the future already in place. Lindor isn’t anywhere as bad as his 2021 numbers would indicate, and when he’s at the peak of his powers, he might be the best shortstop in the baseball universe. Like the Yankees, the Mets have a promising shortstop incubating on the farm. Unlike the Yankees, though, the Mets’ Gen Z-er does not have to be an instant savior.
Ronny Mauricio is, depending on which publication you trust, somewhere between the 24th and 92nd best prospect in the world. He’s also ahead of the typical minor league progression curve. At just 20 years old, Mauricio has already gotten his feet wet at Double-A. While he hit .323 there, that was in only 33 plate appearances and at times he looked overmatched at High-A, where he spent most of last year as a player roughly three years younger than league average. He needs years of reps before he’ll be ready for the big time.
No matter what happens to Mauricio during his next minor league campaigns, the Mets are in a wonderful position. If he and Lindor both perform like the type of players the club expects them to be, all of a sudden Mauricio is one of the sexier trade chips in baseball. Should the Mets find themselves in a spot where they need to acquire one more starting pitcher or another impact bat, Mauricio likely gets them in the red zone of any serious trade talks.
Of course, the Mets could also hold on to him and debut him in the majors as a second or third baseman next to Lindor. Burgeoning prospects Bretty Baty and Mark Vientos are natural third basemen though, giving the Mets an embarrassment of riches that also makes a trade seem like the most logical solution to a good problem. With Mauricio still not able to drink legally in the United States, the Mets have patience on their side, providing probably the most stark difference to their Bronx-based neighbors who are trying to win now with a deficient roster.
Essentially, both teams know they have capable players they can one day unleash on their rivals. The curious case of Gleyber Torres and the Yankees’ insatiable desire to break their World Series drought has accelerated their timeline a bit more than the Mets, who have a generational talent in Lindor laying somewhat dormant at their shortstop post.
One team has to either outsource the position until the kids are ready or shepherd one of them to The Show before they’re ready. The other has the privilege of knowing they can take their time, as their prized prospect can be a complementary piece rather than a necessity.
Who would have thought when Derek Jeter retired that the Yankees’ next chance for sustained hope at his position would come from a player born after The Captain had already won two of his World Series rings? Conversely, who would have thought when the Mets traded for Lindor that instead of being hamstrung by his contract, they’d soon run into the problem of having too many exciting possibilities across the infield?
Welcome to 2022, the year everything is upside down.
