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Yankees: Extreme roster moves NYY can make right now to send a message

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 06: Clint Frazier #77 high-fives Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees after their win during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on April 06, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees won 7-2. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 06: Clint Frazier #77 high-fives Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees after their win during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on April 06, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees won 7-2. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

1. Option Gleyber Torres to Triple-A

Gleyber Torres’ defense is still a work in progress. But whew, his bat would make up for it, right? Think again! The unthinkable amount of regressions refuses to cease.

Torres was in the midst of a truly unthinkable 4-for-51 slump with 20 strikeouts heading into Tuesday (thankfully, he went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk, though he still didn’t exactly look “comfortable” at the plate). He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. We’d love if some stathead could go through the worst slumps of the 2021 MLB season so far to tell us that there’s maybe been one or two of this heinous magnitude.

On the year, Torres is slashing .242/.324/.313. Just like Frazier, he has a lower slugging percentage than on-base percentage. His power is gone. Hell, his contact is gone! He has a grand total of SIX home runs in his last 111 games. He’s turned into Billy Hamilton except … he doesn’t have speed, either.

The Yankees believe Torres is struggling with confidence. Oh really? Then maybe Cashman shouldn’t have publicly blasted him to the media multiple times this offseason. Even when the Yankees try to hold players accountable, they do it wrong. The 24-year-old’s regression has hurt the most, by far.

His peripherals are even terrible. He’s in the sixth percentile for exit velocity and 24th percentile in barrel percentage. He’s fully lost at the plate, and when he’s not, it’s still not pretty. It looks like he’s just dropping his bat in the zone to make random contact in hopes the ball leaves the infield. You can count on one hand how many good at-bats he’s had in 2021.

He’s got two minor-league options left. His play over his last 135 games (dating back to 2019) has been … bad. In the final 25 games of 2019, which was an All-Star campaign for Torres, he watched his average drop 11 points, his OBP 16 points, and his OPS 33 points. Perhaps that was the beginning of the slide.

Either way, this cannot go on any longer. Demote Torres, force him to figure it out in Scranton (because Tuesday night isn’t close to an indication that things are turning around), and call up Hoy Jun Park. Anything will help at this point. Running the same futile players out there is not going to turn the 2021 Yankees around.

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