The Yankees brought, shall we say, an unconventional approach to last offseason. As the sport whipped itself into a frenzy ahead of the lockout, the Yankees stayed on the sidelines with their hands in their pockets. While rivals poached star shortstops on the free agent market, the Yankees declined to get in on the action, instead enabling a salary dump that may have paved the way for the Twins to acquire Carlos Correa.
The underlying strategy to all of this was a newfound commitment to defense. Gone were middling or downright shoddy defenders like Gary Sánchez, Gio Urshela, and Luke Voit.