Getty Yankees potential trade target Luis Rengifo
It is an understatement to say that things are going well for the New York Yankees here as we enter the meat of the MLB season in the throes of June. They are deep in the starting rotation, with an ERA of 2.76, second in MLB, and with ace Gerrit Cole returning from an arm injury that kept him out since March. The bullpen is one spot where the team might seek help, but even the relievers have a combined ERA of 2.86 (second in MLB) and a WHIP of 1.14 (third).
They are deep in the lineup, too, with a collective OPS of .768, first in baseball and 93 home runs (second).
Still, there is a soft spot in the lineup, and chatter lately has the Yankees perhaps seeking an overhaul on the right side of the infield, where Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres have disappointed. First basemen are easy enough to find—if indeed the Yankees do seek to bump Rizzo—but second base is a bit trickier.
There is a player out there, though, who could easily fit in as a Torres replacement and is toiling for a team that figures to be a certain seller when the trade deadline rolls around in eight weeks: Luis Rengifo of the Angels.
As Bleacher Report MLB podcaster Borna Nazari stated on Friday, “What about Luis Rengifo? He is playing like an All-Star. He comes with club control through the end of 2025.”
Gleyber Torres Replaced by Luis Rengifo = ‘Perfect’?
Rengifo is 27 and in his seventh season with the Angels. He’s having by far his best year, with a slash line of .327/.374/.469, and while there has to be some concern about him regressing to the mean, Rengifo has been a solid hitter for the past two seasons, hitting .264 in both years, with 17 homers in 2022 and 16 in 2023.
He would certainly give the Yankees an alternative to Torres.
“What the Angels can do is they can have Rengifo go to the Yankees, if they like that move,” Nazari said on a B/R livestream. “That would be a really good fit for the Yankees. Where would Rengifo play? … Are you sick and tired of Gleyber Torres? Do you think the Gleyber Torres experience in New York is over? Because I will tell you this, Torres is hitting .238 with an OPS of .650. Rengifo is damn-near perfect slotting in where Gleyber is playing on the Yankees.”
Adding Rengifo to a lineup that is already pummeling MLB pitching would only move the Yankees that much farther up the food chain.
“Look at this Yankees offense, it’s loaded. Outside of Gleyber Torres, you slot in Rengifo there, it’s big-time,” Nazari said.
Yankees Could Risk Messing With a Good Thing
That is one of the key questions as the Yankees approach the trade deadline. Yes, replacing Torres makes some sense, but is it worth it to overhaul a lineup that has been so productive if the biggest problem is that the second baseman—who hits in the No. 7 spot, primarily—has had a slow start?
Fox Sports MLB writer Deesha Thosar put forth the idea that the Yankees could overhaul the Rizzo-Torres portion of the infield, but hedged on that notion.
“Gleyber Torres had a better May than he did April, and he’s been serviceable since coming out of that early-season slump, but he still sports an 81 OPS+ and has been embroiled in trade rumors throughout his Yankees tenure,” she wrote.
But Torres has hits in 12 of his last 13 games, and is hitting .289 over that span.
As Thosar noted: “There is an argument to be made that the Yankees lineup, one of the best units in the majors, doesn’t need retooling in case it messes up their good flow.”