Before the start of the 2022 season, the Yankees and Twins surprised just about the entire baseball world when they completed the trade that sent Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt to the Bronx for Gio Urshela and by Gary Sanchez. After all, this was a pretty big deal and big names were involved on both sides.
However, the case of Kiner-Falefa was particularly intriguing. Fresh from the Rangers the day before, the Twins traded him to the Yankees 24 hours later, and while he wasn’t a natural shortstop, he seemed like the perfect fit for the job.
In the longer term, that said, we suspected that it was probably just long enough to keep the seat warm for the organization’s two brightest prospects in Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza. He could help out in the short term, but in the long term, he would end up being dislodged.
And in 2022, Kiner-Falefa had a pretty painful season. Offensively, he played up to his abilities, but defensively, his numerous errors and overall poor play quickly raised the ire of Yankees fans.
In short, all of this means that there are serious questions to be asked as to what is the future ofIKF in the Bronx. And according to Jon Heyman, it’s very simple: everything indicates that he will not be the team’s starting shortstop in 2023.
According to Heyman, the Yankees are currently in contact with the big shortstops who are currently free in the free market, but obviously the priority is to keep Aaron Judge.
If signing Judge ever makes signing an extra star shortstop too expensive, the Yankees will simply trust one of their two rookies. Peraza did well in his short stint in the Majors last year and Volpe will have a chance to make the club come spring camp.
Otherwise, Oswaldo Cabrera could take the job, but considering his versatility, the Yankees would probably like to avoid slotting him into a position just yet.
The idea of trading Kiner-Falefa has been around for a few weeks, but even if he’s not the starter, he could be a great weapon for the Yankees off the bench. We can do worse than him as a bench player in the Majors.
The Yankees have often defended IKF publicly in the last few months, but obviously they’ve come to realize the obvious: he’s not the caliber to be a starting shortstop in the Majors.
Maybe sending him to third base, where he won a Golden Glove in 2020, might be an idea, but then again, I believe the Yankees can do better.
In short, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Kiner-Falefa, him whose future in the Bronx seems seriously compromised. Did I ever tell you that Brian Cashman has an entire bakery on the board this winter?
