Young Yankee Star Still Untouchable After Down Year

There are members of the New York Yankees that General Manager Brian Cashman has in the past listed as "untouchable". 24-year-old shortstop Gleyber Torres has been on that list since he arrived in New York as part of the Aroldis Chapman trade with the Chicago Cubs. Torres had a tough go of it last year leaving MLB insiders questioning if Cashman would possibly move him. Reports of what ended the potential of Cinncinati Reds Pitcher Luis Castillo being traded to the Yankees would suggest Torres is still untouchable.

The Yankees starting rotation would be one of the top in all of the MLB if they added Castillo. The 28-year-old right-hander is a year removed from his first All-Star game and has three years of Arbitration left on his contract. Adding Castillo to Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, and a ton of young talent. So basically this sounds like exactly the kind of player Brian Cashman would target but the Reds wanted Torres.

Torres could easily be a star for the Yankees for 10 plus more years but is coming off a bad 2020 (I know, who didn't?!). The issue with Torres is he was expected to seamlessly slide into the shortstop position after the Yankees let Didi Gregorius leave. The transition was anything but smooth forcing Cashman to explain why he felt Torres was "out of shape" during an interview with YES Networks Meredith Marakovitz.

I personally think giving up on Gleyber Torres would be a mistake so this lack of a move makes a lot of sense to me. I'm also on record saying I think the starting rotation will be good this season and that was before the addition of two-time Cy Young trophy winner Corry Kluber. IT will be interesting to see if Cashman agrees with my assessment or if these trade rumors are a sign of more pitching coming to New York soon.

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