The only Yankees position without multiple Silver Slugger winners should send message to front office

The New York Yankees aren't nicknamed the Bronx Bombers for no reason. For that reason, they've been well represented in the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards throughout the years. The Yankees have multiple representatives at every position except for one: shortstop.

This is in part because the award was first introduced in 1980, meaning that franchise greats and champions like Phil Rizzuto and Frank Crosetti missed the boat by a large margin. Another mitigating factor is that New York had one player dominate the position for much of the Silver Slugger era. That, of course, is Derek Jeter, who had a stranglehold on the position for the better part of two decades, taking home the award five times himself.

But while it seems like yesterday, Jeter's last big league season was in 2014. Since then, the position has looked pretty bleak. From 2015 through the present day, the Yankees have gotten a .715 OPS out of the position, which ranks 15th in the majors during that span.

That number includes the Didi Gregorius years, which included some very fine performances. Gregorius hit 97 homers in pinstripes over five seasons, while slashing .269/.313/.446. That's nothing to sneeze at, but he was never the AL's best hitter at the position during his time here.

Gregorius left following the 2019 season, and since then, things have been bleak. From 2020 onward, we have mostly been dealing with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Volpe at short. In that time period, Yankees shortstops have produced a .668 OPS, ranking 26th in baseball.

The Yankees can't continue getting subpar offensive production out of the shortstop position

Right now, the hope for the future is George Lombard Jr. The club's top prospect got off to a hot start, but since then, he's cooled substantially. It's too early to write him off just yet, especially at just 21 years old. However, the Yankees can't afford to get into another Volpe-esque holding pattern where years go by and no material improvements are made.

That leaves the front office with an interesting conundrum. Shortstops who can hit and field don't grow on trees, and while Brian Cashman passed on a generational shortstop free-agent class to sign IKF to keep the seat warm for Volpe, he cannot afford to repeat the same lethargic approach to the position.

Ideally, Lombard Jr. snatches the job for the next 20 years with a strong finish to 2026, a postseason to remember, and a spring training that eliminates all doubt. Jeter met with the promising youngster to advise him on the responsibilities that lie ahead. Now we'll see if he took those lessons to heart.

But if we come to the conclusion of New York's 2026 campaign and haven't seen Lombard Jr. show signs that he can consistently rise to the occasion; the Yankees must be opportunistic when it comes to pursuing upgrades.

After being wrapped up in rumors at the trade deadline, it's thought that the Angels could revisit trade talks for Zach Neto in the offseason. Another possible scenario is that the Astros follow the Kyle Tucker path and trade Jeremy Peña this winter ahead of his final year of team control.

In an ideal situation, the Yankees could acquire a player like Neto or Peña while retaining Lombard Jr. to hedge their bets. Worst-case scenario: Lombard Jr. busts, and the team has a high-end veteran to man the position. Best-case scenario: they have to undertake some shuffling, but Lombard Jr. is a star, and the team is deeper and better for it.

What can't happen is the Yankees put all their eggs in the Lombard Jr. bucket, and then miss out on young stars in their prime and let the position languish for another half-decade. The time to wait and see is over, and the time to be bold is now.

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