Yankees: Should they re-sign Neil Walker this offseason?

One of the main storylines surrounding the Yankees this offseason is how they plan to replace shortstop Didi Gregorius while he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

With Didi likely to miss most of if not the entire first half of next season there are a couple of directions the Yankees can go in to fill his spot in the starting lineup. The option that would make the biggest splash is signing All-Star shortstop Manny Machado to a mega-deal and then move him over to third base once Didi returns.

Then the Yanks can decide after the season whether or not they want to sign back Didi and lock him up to a long-term deal. If not they could let Didi walk and roll with Machado at short for the long haul.

As much as myself and most Yankee fans would love to see Machado in pinstripes I don’t want him if it means 2019 will be Didi’s last season in New York. If they could somehow sign Machado and still resign Didi next offseason I’d be all for it, but then that leaves Miguel Andujar without a position because Machado would slide over to his spot at third. If Miggy can make a position change to first base or left field that would solve everything but that’s a lot easier said than done.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Yankees take a more conservative route and move Gleyber Torres to shortstop and re-sign Neil Walker to play second base. Torres’ natural position was shortstop coming up through the Yankee system and he’s by far the team’s best internal option to fill in for Didi during his absence. We already know what he brings to the table offensively and his defense at short will only improve with the more reps he gets under his belt.

That would obviously leave a big hole at second, but if Walker is brought back I think he’d do a fine job filling in as the primary second basemen. Walker’s numbers during his first season with the Yanks weren’t all that impressive but he picked up a ton of clutch hits over the course of the year and proved to an important player because of his versatility. Walker got off to a very slow start hitting below .200 during the first half of the season, but that was partly due to him signing with the team so late into spring training.

Anyone who’s watched Walker play over the last decade knows he’s not a .219 hitter. And with a full offseason/spring training to prepare, he’d likely have a much more productive season in 2019. Since Walker struggled a ton last season hitting lefties (.164) he wouldn’t start against southpaws but that’s fine since the Yankees can give the always reliable Ronald Torreyes a spot start here and there.

Walker would also give the Yankees lineup another left-handed bat with pop which is something they’re in desperate need of now with Didi out. The Yankees lineup has some great right-handed hitters but it’s important that they can sprinkle in some lefties so it’s harder for opposing team’s bullpens to matchup with them later in games. Walker only hit .234 last year against righties but he did hit 10 HR, driving in 40 and for his career he’s still a .271 hitter with a solid .450 SLG %.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Surprising stat could breed Yankees-Reds deal at 2023 trade deadline
• Is anybody going to sign Aroldis Chapman away from Yankees?
• Diamondbacks outfielder’s comment on Carlos Rodón’s IG raises eyebrows
• Reflecting on the 2013 New York Yankees’ top 10 prospects
• Did Andrew Benintendi contract help Yankees with Ian Happ trade?

As I said before Walker was a very versatile player for the Yanks in 2018 so he’d be a good guy to have on the roster not just to play second base. He can be used at first in the case of an injury (or if Greg Bird or Luke Voit struggle) and he can also be used as a late-game defensive replacement for Andujar at third.

Waker really accepted his role off the bench with the Yanks in 2018 after starting for the majority of his career so he’d probably have no issue taking on that same role once Didi does return late next summer.

The Yankees could also surprise us all and sign a better bat like Daniel Murphy or Marwin Gonzalez to play second but they won’t come as cheap as Walker. They also probably wouldn’t sign a one year deal as Walker did a season ago.

We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out but Walker’s cost and versatility is something the Yankees should be looking for if a long-term commitment to Machado is not in the cards. It’s not the most popular option, but it’s a low-risk high reward move that could help the Yanks both before and after Didi finally returns.