The New York Yankees did the right thing by promoting top prospect Anthony Volpe. The 21-year-old phenom will begin the season on the Opening Day roster and should see substantial playing time. This is great for him and the Yankees, but it also does create a bit of a logjam in their infield.
Oswald Peraza was the favorite to land the starting shortstop job, but Volpe appears to have that job now. That leaves the Yankees with some options in regard to what they do with their infield. If they move Peraza to second, what does that mean for Gleyber Torres and his future? Do they send Peraza down even though he was impressive last season?
I think Peraza will get sent down if the Yankees cannot find a Gleyber Torres trade, Even with the two-time all-star likely being on the block, I don't think he's a target the Los Angeles Angels should pursue.
The Angels should not pursue new Yankees trade candidate Gleyber Torres
Torres' name has been around the MLB rumor mill for a while now, but I think a trade will happen sometime in the not-too-distant future.
The Angels, as we all know, don't have a solidified shortstop situation. They have players who can play the position if need be, but don't have a true shortstop. As fun as it'd be to have Gleyber Torres the hitter, he's not a true shortstop.
In 252 career games at shortstop, Torres has -24 DRS and -16 OAA. Both are pretty putrid figures. There's a reason the Yankees shifted him back to second base and traded for Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Torres is a second baseman.
Let's assume the Angels start with Gio Urshela at short. Urshela slashed .285/.338/.429 with 13 home runs and 64 RBI in 144 games last season. He had a 121 OPS+. Torres slashed .257/.310/.451 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI. He had a 114 OPS+. Urshela is probably a bit more well-rounded as a hitter, but Torres gives more production in the power department.
Urshela being as inexperienced as he is at the shortstop position would likely be a below-average defender there. He lacks the range most shortstops has, and that can be frustrating to watch. The thing is, Torres wouldn't help with those things either. They'd be playing an above-average hitter but poor defender at shortstop.
Another reason to not do this is the price. The Yankees are not rebuilding, they'd want players to help them win now. They can most definitely do better than someone like Jose Suarez on the open market. They seemed to be close on a trade for Pablo Lopez that fell through, and Lopez is way better than the Angels southpaw.
As much as I'd like for them to get a true shortstop Torres is not the guy. He'd cost too much in a trade, and is not a good defender. He'd be what the Angels already have at the position.