Speaking on Thursday, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said he had spoken with the representatives for “most, but not all” of the top free agent shortstops.
Among those shortstops is Carlos Correa, and Cashman again said that any concern over the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal will not prevent a pursuit of Correa.
In addition to Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, and Trevor Story round out the group.
Of those five players, all but Baez are attached to (and will reject) the qualifying offer, meaning any team that signs them will have to give up draft pick compensation.
On Tuesday, Cashman had also discussed the free agent shortstop crop. At that point, he had spoken to two of those players’ agents.
And Cashman added that the Yanks are also open to filling their shortstop hole via trade.
“We’ll asses what’s available in the trade market, you know what’s available in the free agent market. I don’t know what the price points are and how it potentially fits with everything we already got,” Cashman said. “That’s currently what I’m going through to see what’s realistic, what’s not realistic.
“From the free agents, what are their hopes and dreams. Obviously not just financial but in terms of landing spots and comfort zones for them and their families. And then obviously price point clearly will come in play.
“And then deal with what’s available on the trade front, obviously we have two young kids coming, too, that aren’t ready yet but we have high hopes for them in the future, too. How does that factor into things, just trying to get together more information so we can try strategize better in the coming weeks.”
SNY’s Andy Martino reported on Wednesday that the Yankees could sign one of the star shortstops and keep shortstop prospects Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza.
According to Martino, any of those free agents start their Yankees tenure as shortstops and move off the position in a few years.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].