Isiah Kiner-Falefa already making Yankees regret Oswald Peraza ALDS roster decision

When the New York Yankees dropped their ALDS roster on Tuesday, some fans were let down. They were hoping for more aggressive moves from manager Aaron Boone to improve the position player side of things.

With so many reasonable players to leave off the roster — Aaron Hicks, Marwin Gonzalez, Tim Locastro — it made it that much more infuriating that Oswald Peraza wasn’t included. The kid produced when called upon in September, but wasn’t rewarded despite lackluster performances elsewhere.

But the bigger concern? The sustainability of the Yankees on both sides of the ball with Isiah Kiner-Falefa as the everyday shortstop. Not only did he display massive holes in his defensive game this year, but he will be a prime candidate to be pinch hit for all postseason long.

Since that’s as obvious as can possibly be, why wouldn’t Boone carry a true shortstop on the roster to back him up? Yes, Oswaldo Cabrera can play shortstop, but he’s likely going to play a ton in the outfield since Giancarlo Stanton can’t play defense yet. Gonzalez can play shortstop too, but you’d rather him not.

And if IKF is going to do this in his first two innings of the postseason, you can’t help but think Boone is already regretting his decision to carry Gonzalez over Peraza.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s error and GIDP must have Yankees regretting Oswald Peraza decision.

On top of having a third baseman playing shortstop in IKF, the Yankees will be having utility players backing up him in the event he’s removed from the game. In the most important games. They have no true defensive stalwart at arguably the most important position on the field.

Though Peraza isn’t exactly he a Gold Glover, it’s his natural position, and he’s more than capable of holding down the fort when called upon. He’s certainly a more comforting option than moving Cabrera out of the outfield to be replaced by a lesser offensive option in Hicks or Locastro, and he’s likely better than Gonzalez and Gleyber Torres at short defensively.

Not only that, but Peraza’s bat is better than … everyone’s? He’s a viable pinch-running option off the bench having stolen 33 bases in 99 minor-league games this season! He’s a better contact hitter than Hicks, Gonzalez and Locastro, too. He proved it by making the most of his infrequent playing time, which was better than what any of those guys did with consistent or inconsistent playing time.

The decision to include Peraza seemed like a no-brainer, but Yankees fans knew Boone and general manager Brian Cashman wouldn’t. They know this team’s decision making process all too well. Let’s just hope the fans aren’t validated once again because that would mean something went very wrong.

Yankees release 2022 ALDS roster with 3 important omissions

The New York Yankees have released their 2022 MLB Playoffs roster for the ALDS with three important omissions -- DJ LeMahieu, Scott Effross and Peraza.