About a month until spring training, the New York Yankees are still without a replacement for Gleyber Torres. Unless the front office and coaching staff are content with giving an internal option a chance to prove themselves, the Yankees will need to make a trade to find an ideal solution to this issue.
There aren’t many players available on the free agency market who could fit the Yankees. From a player standpoint, there could be one or two, but their potential prices are likely an issue.
However, the Yankees could facilitate a trade, and Drew VonScio of Newsweek put together a package that could help the Yankees solve their biggest problem.
He proposed a trade that would send Brock Selvidge, Jorbit Vivas, and Yoendrys Gómez to the Los Angeles Angels for Luis Rengifo. Those three are all top 20 Yankees prospects by most rankings.
“This deal would go through under the presumption that the Yankees would extend Rengifo and not let him walk in free agency. As a result, the package the Angels receive is larger than usual for someone in their final year of arbitration.
“For the Angels, Selvidge and Gómez are a pair of arms for Triple-A, with the latter potentially in line to make his Angels debut later in the 2025 season. Vivas would also report to Triple-A as an infielder who could reach the big leagues by season’s end,” VonScio wrote on January 21.
Rengifo Believes to Be Available
The Los Angeles Angels aren’t in a position to win a World Series, and with Rengifo hitting free agency in 2026, it’d make sense if they move him in a trade. He’s coming off the best season of his career, too, hitting .300 a campaign ago.
Rengifo played in just 78 games due to right wrist inflammation, something the New York Yankees will have to do their due diligence on.
But if the Yankees like what they see in his medicals, there’s a scenario where he’ll be available. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Angels are willing to deal him.
“For teams in search of an outfield bat, the Mets’ Starling Marte, Cleveland’s Lane Thomas, San Francisco’s Mike Yastrzemski and the Los Angeles Angels’ Taylor Ward are there to be had. Other options include Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor — whose availability, along with that of San Francisco’s LaMonte Wade Jr. and Texas’ Nathaniel Lowe, further muddies a crowded first-base free agent market — Angels utilityman Luis Rengifo and Minnesota catcher Christian Vazquez,” Passan wrote on December 19.
Yankees Infield Search Remains ‘Ongoing’
It’s been well-reported that the New York Yankees are looking for an infielder. Rengifo has stops at shortstop, second, and third base throughout his career, making him an ideal candidate to trade for.
His defense wasn’t promising a season ago, ranking in the 5th percentile in OAA, according to Baseball Savant. That’s an issue, and the Yankees could eventually run into a similar issue they faced with Torres last season, but he’s posted an OPS+ of 102 or higher in each of the past three seasons, and that should be what they’re looking for more than anything.
Whether it’s him or not, Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Posted recently reported that the Yankees search for an infielder is “ongoing,” a good sign that they aren’t done yet.
“The Yankees’ ongoing search for infield help appears to be thorough and includes an interesting bounce-back candidate…
“The club could use a second baseman or third baseman, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. able to man the other spot, and Polanco can play either position when healthy — which he is expected to be in time for the season,” Sanchez wrote on January 7.
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