Whether or not the Yankees need to add a starting-caliber shortstop to their roster hinges on their free agency negotiations with DJ LeMahieu. If LeMahieu re-ups with the Yanks, the team should look a lot like its 2020 predecessor, for better or for worse. As noted in Peter Brody’s examination of why the Yankees might be better off letting DJ walk beyond a certain price if Hal Steinbrenner is enforcing his payroll limitations, one of the concerns regarding DJ’s retention is that it forces Gleyber Torres to continue on as the club’s primary shortstop.
While he’s proven capable of producing like one of the game’s most promising prospects, Torres has been one of the game’s worst defensive shortstops since the advent of player tracking.