The Yankees Need To Spend $300MM On Corey Seager Next Offseason
Corey Seager might win the National League MVP this year, which makes the following statement obvious: every team could use him on their roster. Now that we got that out the way, there's one team that needs him more than anyone.
It's the New York Yankees.
Current roster construction, clutch moments, and the glove. There are many reasons for Seager to be in pinstripes, so let's begin.
Yankees roster
First, we have to dig into why the Bombers need him most. Look at today's lineup and see if you notice anything:
Righty, righty, left-handed utility bat? Then right back to righty, righty, righty, lefty (only in there due to the injury of righty starter Luke Voit), righty, righty.
This can't be planned, can it? Well, actually the Yankees' theory on this is that the right-handed power bats fit better at Yankees Stadium. That may very well be true, but you also can't have an entire lineup be right-handed. That's way too one-dimensional, which is why manager Aaron Boone went with Brett Gardner to hit between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. They're trying to defend against the Orioles, or any opponent, bringing in a power right-handed pitcher late in the game to get their power duo out.
In theory, Garner's presence is supposed to prevent the Orioles from making that move, but I'm here to tell you right now: no one's afraid of Brett Gardner.
You know who does strike fear into any team and would accomplish the Yankee goal of that three-hitting lefty? The World Series MVP Corey Seager, a 26-year-old superstar who already rocks a clean shave. How many more signs do you need?
Seager can get "the big hit"
You know which hitters always seem to come through in the big moments? Even back to our childhoods, the contact hitters got it done. Seager is that guy in today's game, regardless of the fact that the rest of the league seems to hate hitting for average. Corey Seager takes pride in putting the ball in play and that makes him the ideal at-bat in the clutch.
And when you're in pinstripes, you damn sure better be ready for all the marbles in October. It's almost better that Seager already showed the baseball world what he can do in the playoffs. That way, he could come to New York a proven man. Rather than making someone earn his stripes, it's sometimes beneficial to sign a guy who already has a few stripes in his bag.
The glove -- can't emphasize this enough
Corey Seager is a sure-handed shortstop, and the Yankees were god awful there last season. Yes, Gleyber Torres was learning the position on the fly, but the Yankees don't have time for projects.
What works best is fitting Seager in pinstripes and moving slugger Gleyber Torres back to his native position of second base. That effectively would slot star slugger DJ LeMahieu to first base, where he's already seen some success. The only downside would be that first baseman Luke Voit would have nowhere to play. While true, often times you have to give up good players to find the best possible fit.
Ask yourself whether Luke Voit is better than Corey Seager, Gleyber Torres, or DJ LeMahieu. It's not really that close, is it? Didn't think so.
So how much will this cost?
Corey Seager, like I said earlier, is a 26-years-old shortstop, and at the very least, good enough to be in the NL MVP race. That said, negotiations likely start at 10 years, roughly $350 million. Yeah, it's a wagon full of dough.
All you have to do is peek at the "star" shortstop market. Lindor just inked a 10-year, $341 million deal, and he's far less accomplished than Seager. Lindor played below his standards (which are high) in his last couple postseason appearances, and Seager didn't. The Dodgers shortstop was the best player on the team throughout their entire World Series run.
The one (massively overblown) concern is his injury history. Seager missed significant time in 2018 with an elbow injury. Since then, he's been reliable, and he has clearly found his swing. New York needs a new star shortstop, and his name is Corey Seager.