Around this time last year, Oswald Peraza looked like the favorite to win the Yankees’ starting shortstop job in spring training.
Now? His Yankees future is as murky as ever.
With less than six weeks left until spring training, plenty can change about the Yankees’ roster. But as things stand now, Peraza is in line to be part of the Yankees bench to open the season, offering depth behind Anthony Volpe at shortstop, DJ LeMahieu at third base and Gleyber Torres at second base.
One place he will almost definitely not be? In the minors. Peraza does not have any minor league options remaining after being optioned in three different seasons since he was added to the 40-man roster in Nov. 2020.
The wild card is that Peraza remains a candidate to be traded, especially if it can help the Yankees solidify their rotation.
The question is: Just how much value does the 23-year-old infielder have on the trade market?
It’s certainly less than it was last year, but should the Yankees recoup whatever they can get for him now (before it potentially gets lower) or wait and see whether he can become a useful piece for them, especially if someone such as LeMahieu gets injured or Torres gets traded before he hits free agency next offseason?
“We have infield surplus,” general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this offseason. “Do you try to find a lane to get Peraza involved? I’m sure people will try to prey on that.”
In hindsight, the time to trade Peraza may have been last offseason, though back then he appeared to be the front-runner to be their starting shortstop in 2023. He had impressed in a September cameo to close out the 2022 season, hitting .306 with an .832 OPS in 57 plate appearances, and even drew a start at shortstop in Game 2 of the ALCS in place of the benched Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He went 0-for-3, but looked the part defensively.
Peraza’s defense, though, has never been in question. He looks like a natural shortstop, and his glove has remained major-league-caliber even as he moved around to third base and second base last season.
The athleticism that Peraza offers is also something the Yankees could desperately use more of.
But across three different stints with the Yankees in 2023, Peraza hasn’t been able to get going at the plate. He finished the year batting .191 with a .539 OPS in 191 plate appearances, meaning that in 248 career plate appearances in the majors, Peraza has hit just .216 with a .605 OPS.
Late in the season, as Peraza put together a nine-game hot streak (before going cold to end the year), manager Aaron Boone cited his bat speed, strength and ability to drive the ball, but said Peraza needed to continue to “tighten up his mechanics” to be more consistent at the plate.
“That’s the thing — can he get to that level to where it allows him to be a big league hitter?” Boone said. “A big league every day offensive player? There’s no question in my mind defensively. There’s no question in my mind he has the offensive tools and physical tools to do that. But he’s going to have to continue to make adjustments as well.”
The Yankees will have to answer that question honestly as they evaluate what to do with Peraza. There is also the question of whether other teams believe he is capable of making that jump, or how much they would value him as just a defensively gifted shortstop and live with what he brings offensively?
And beyond that, would the right teams be interested in Peraza?
The top trade candidates for starting pitchers are the White Sox’s Dylan Cease, the Guardians’ Shane Bieber and the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes, along with potentially an arm (such as Jesus Luzardo or Edward Cabrera) from the Marlins.
Here’s how those teams are set up at shortstop:
White Sox: Their current projected starting shortstop is veteran Paul DeJong, who signed a one-year deal in November. The bigger holdup might be that their top prospect is shortstop Colson Montgomery, the No. 17 prospect in baseball at the end of 2023, per MLB.com. The 21-year-old Montgomery finished the season at Double-A. There is some question about whether he will stay at shortstop long-term, according to Baseball America’s scouting report.
New GM Chris Getz has talked about wanting to improve the White Sox’s defense, which Peraza could certainly help with.
Guardians: Shortstop is not where this organization is lacking. Their top prospect is Brayan Rocchio, a strong defensive shortstop who is projected to start the season in the big leagues. They also have Gabriel Arias, a young infielder who started 46 games at shortstop last season.
Brewers: If they are trying to win in 2024, the Brewers will keep Willy Adames as their starting shortstop in his final year before free agency. They could use a backup at the position, though, who perhaps could take over if/when Adames leaves.
Marlins: Jon Berti is currently projected to be the Marlins’ shortstop in 2024 with utilityman Vidal Brujan on the bench and prospect Jacob Amaya potentially in the fold.
All that being said, a reminder: If the Yankees are going to make a deal with any of those teams, it likely would take much more than Peraza, possibly requiring the team to dip into some of its outfield prospects.
But one way or another, the time may be coming soon for the Yankees to make a call on Peraza.
They waited on the talent of former top prospects such as Estevan Florial, Deivi Garcia, Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier, among others, only to get minimal production before letting them go for essentially nothing (all of them were designated for assignment, though Florial remained in the organization and was traded for Guardians right-hander Cody Morris last week).
Life is a series of choices
Entering the offseason, free agent Kevin Kiermaier seemed like a good fit to sign with the Yankees and take over as their starting center fielder, at least until Jasson Dominguez returns following Tommy John surgery.
Instead, the Yankees went a different direction by trading for Alex Verdugo, which, along with the Juan Soto trade, will force Aaron Judge into center field.
It’s far from an ideal scenario to have Judge play regularly in center, though the Yankees’ lineup should be better offensively with Verdugo in it rather than Kiermaier.
Still, the Yankees will get to see their decision play out up close this season after Kiermaier re-signed with the Blue Jays on a one-year, $10.5 million contract. It’s only a $1.5 million raise from the deal Kiermaier played on in 2023, which seems a little light coming off a Gold Glove season in which he was solid at the plate.
For reference, it’s the same contract Harrison Bader just got from the Mets on Thursday, and though Bader is younger and also brings elite center field defense, the left-handed hitting Kiermaier was much more of a contributor offensively in 2023, with a 104 OPS-plus (four percent above league average) to Bader’s 69.
Kiermaier, speaking to Toronto reporters this week, indicated he was surprised by the lack of teams interested in him as a full-time center fielder. Perhaps the Yankees weren’t alone.
“This year, my offers weren’t anything near last year — after winning a Gold Glove, after I said that I was going to be the best nine-hole hitter in the game and play Gold Glove-caliber defense,” Kiermaier said, per MLB.com. “I did everything I said, but still, not many teams were interested, which caught me off-guard.”
Every man has his price
Frankie Montas always seemed like a decent fallback option for the Yankees if it was late in the offseason and they could re-sign him on a one-year, incentive-heavy deal.
The $16 million he got from the Reds? Good for Montas, but it’s hard to blame the Yankees for not going that high.