Top Prospect Jorge Mateo is Changing Positions

Jorge Mateo is tearing it up at High-A Tampa and a move to Trenton is on the horizon, but so is a position change. The Yankees are working the 20-year-old out at second base and he will soon get into games at the keystone, according to George King of the New York Post.

Mateo is hitting .347 with four home runs, 24 RBI, 10 stolen bases and a .958 OPS in 124 at-bats. Surely a call up to Trenton is coming any day now. But shortstop in Trenton is occupied by Tyler Wade, the number eight prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline. Wade is known more for his glove than his bat, but he’s gotten off to a decent start in Double-A, hitting .256/.351/.359 through 32 games. While Mateo is far and away the better prospect, the Yankees want to allow both players to continue their development (Wade already plays some second base, as well).

The Yankees have emphasized depth and versatility throughout the organization in recent years, maybe most notably with the way they have moved Rob Refsnyder around the diamond in Triple-A.  At the Major League level, they played both Stephen Drew and Brendan Ryan, two natural shortstops, all over the infield. Even current second baseman Starlin Castro came up as a shortstop. From a defensive standpoint, all three have shown that moving from short to second is not a problem. So shifting Mateo shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It also isn’t a permanent switch by any means. Mateo will still see plenty of time at shortstop as he continues to move up the organizational ladder.

Even so, it’s hard not to have an eye towards the future when an organization does something like this with its best young player. Current shortstop Didi Gregorius is among the game’s best defensive shortstops. While Mateo projects as a Major League shortstop, Gregorius will likely always be the superior defender. The 26-year-old Gregorius is under contract through 2020. However, Castro’s contract expires after the 2019 season. Mateo’s promotion to the 25-man roster might coincide with Castro’s contract year. Perhaps the Yankees see a potential double play combination of Mateo and Gregorius, with the ladder staying put at short.

Another option could be to revisit Castro’s defensive home once again. In Spring Training the Yankees briefly toyed with the idea of Castro being their backup third baseman. The thought didn’t last very long, but yet another alternative could be to have all three players in their infield when the time comes. (Chase Headley’s contract expires after the 2018 season.)

What’s clear here is the Yankees are giving themselves as many options as they can. That’s never been a bad thing in any walk of life, but in a world as impermanent as professional sports, it absolutely pays for the Yankees to play around with what they have within their organization.