The silence coming from the Yankees‘ front office this winter has gone from concerning to deafening, and if you were hoping Bo Bichette would be the noise-maker to break the quiet, you might want to lower your expectations.
We already know that the Yankees free agency plans just took another turn with Alex Bregman news, removing one of the premier infield options from the board.
Now, it appears Bichette is following a similar trajectory, with reports placing him in meetings with the Philadelphia Phillies while the Toronto Blue Jays actively try to lure their homegrown star back north. The reality is that the Yankees were likely never serious suitors for Bichette in the first place, using his name more as leverage in their stalled negotiations with Cody Bellinger than as a genuine roster solution.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Yankees are now operating under the assumption that Cody Bellinger is going to sign elsewhere, which naturally leads to panic about a “Plan B.” However, spending over $150 million on Bichette just to say you did something is the kind of impulsive move that cripples franchises.
While Bichette is undeniably a gifted offensive player with elite bat-to-ball skills and a high batting average that would help any lineup, his fit in the Bronx is questionable at best. He is a square peg in a round hole for a roster that desperately needs defensive stability, not another player who has to be hidden in the field.
A Defensive Liability the New York Yankees Cannot Afford to Hide
When you peel back the layers of Bichette’s game, the defensive metrics paint a picture that should terrify Yankees fans who watched the infield struggle last year. He has consistently graded out as a poor defensive shortstop, lacking the range and consistency to anchor the position at a championship level.
To make matters worse, you can’t simply slide him over to third base because his arm strength is virtually non-existent for the hot corner. That leaves second base as his only viable defensive home, which creates a massive logistical headache regarding the players currently on the roster.
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Moving Bichette to second base assumes that General Manager Brian Cashman is ready to trade Jazz Chisholm, a move that feels sideways rather than forward. We know the front office was fielding calls on Chisholm a few weeks ago as part of their due diligence, but there has been no indication they are actively looking to dump a dynamic athlete they previously acquired. Blowing up the infield alignment to accommodate a $150 million player who doesn’t play a premium position well is bad business, plain and simple.
Brian Cashman Is Running Out of Time to Wake Up
The frustration with this offseason isn’t just about missing out on Bichette; it is about the complete lack of urgency to improve a team that fell short. Cashman has been suspiciously quiet, watching big names come off the board while the roster remains largely unchanged from the group that walked off the field in October. While missing on Bichette is likely the right baseball decision given the roster construction, it doesn’t change the fact that the Yankees are running out of impact options.
There are still a few solid names left on the board, but the window to make a splash is closing rapidly. If the plan was to use Bichette as a stalking horse to lower Bellinger’s price, that bluff has been called, and now the Yankees are left holding a hand full of nothing. It is time for Cashman to stop playing leverage games and start finding players who actually fit, because “patience” doesn’t hit home runs in April.