The great mystery of this offseason for the New York Yankees is why, when the team knew they had no plans to keep free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres in the Bronx, they made no apparent plan to replace him. The Yankees have been linked to a variety of second basemen as the offseason has moved past its traditional New Year’s Day midpoint and into the first week of 2025.
The prospective candidates have included three-time All-Star Luis Arráez of the San Diego Padres, former Los Angeles Dodger Gavin Lux who was since dealt to the Cincinnati Reds, and Edouard Julien of the Minnesota Twins.
Rumors of a blockbuster trade for the Twins’ highest-paid player, Carlos Correa, have made their way through the media and fan base. Jeff McNeil of the crosstown rival New York Mets has received similar treatment. But so far no deal has materialized.
On Tuesday, however, USA Today MLB insider columnist Bob Nightengale named a second baseman that, according to his reporting, has the Yankees so interested that they have actually held talks with him.
Yankees May Give Second Chance to Fallen Top Prospect
Brendan Rodgers of the Colorado Rockies is a free agent for the first time after the team non-tendered him rather than allow him a final year of arbitration after six seasons at Coors Field. The Rockies tried to deal away the 28-year-old one-time Gold Glover, but shopping Rodgers around on the trade market went nowhere.
It was a hard fall for the player who in 2022 was called by The Sporting News “MLB’s new most valuable defender.” That was not the only hype surrounding Rodgers. The Rockies drafted him in the first round in 2015 straight out of Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida, with the third overall pick in the draft.
By 2019 when he got his call-up to the big leagues, Rodgers was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the Colorado system. But a series of injuries have prevented his career from reaching the heights that the Rockies clearly expected from him.
The sports business site Spotrac projects Rodgers’ value on the free agent market as $56.4 million over a four-year contract, but given the misfortune that has befallen him in recent years, that figure is probably too high. The Yankees likely expect to nab Rodgers for a cheaper price. He played 2024 on a $3.2 million one-year contract for the Rockies.
Injuries Have Hampered Rodgers’ Career
Rodgers’ best season was 2021, when he posted career highs in home runs with 15 and OPS at .798. But he played only 102 games that year. Rodgers rebounded to appear in a career-most 137 games in 2022 and hit 13 home runs in addition to winning a Gold Glove for his defense at second base.
A shoulder injury that required surgery limited Rodgers to just 46 games in 2023, but despite bouncing back somewhat in 2024 with 13 homers and a .721 OPS in 135 games, the Rockies had seen enough.
“Brendan gave a good effort. I think the world of Brendan. First and foremost, he’s a quality person,” Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt said after announcing that the team was cutting ties with Rodgers. “I wish him nothing but the best. But we had to make some tough decisions, and that was one of them.”
The Yankees apparently see potential in Rodgers that the Rockies do not, and according to Nightengale have targeted him as possible Torres replacement.
Comments
Yankees Held Talks With Former MLB No. 3 Draft Pick to Replace Gleyber Torres