After Gleyber Torres’ down 2021 season and eventual move back to second base, it became clear that the Yankees needed a shortstop this offseason. Luckily for them, there were plenty of options available. The free agent shortstop class was headlined by stars Carlos Correa and Corey Seager, but also included several second tier options like Trevor Story, Marcus Semien, and Javier Báez. There were plenty of choices out there if the Yankees wanted to take them.
Then several of those names went off the board before the lockout. Once that ended, it eventually became clear that the Yankees weren’t going to take any of those choices.