Around the Empire: Yankees news - 11/12/21

Yahoo! Sports | Colin Martin: Aaron Judge added to his collection of hardware, winning his second Louisville Silver Slugger Award, joining Toronto’s Teoscar Hernández and Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins as the AL East swept the outfield awards for the American League. This is now the third straight season and fourth in five years that the Yankees have had at least one Silver Slugger winner, as Judge and Gary Sánchez won in 2017 and DJ LeMahieu in 2019 and 2020. LeMahieu, Sánchez, Giancarlo Stanton, and Joey Gallo were also nominated this season, but lost to Marcus Semien, Salvador Pérez, and Shohei Ohtani.

CBS Sports | Matt Snyder: Speaking of the Yankees unofficial captain, one of the most prominent topics this offseason has been the fact that Judge will be entering his last year of arbitration in 2022. In an interview with Fanatics, the outfielder said that his goal is “to finish my career as a Yankee,” although he does acknowledge that “you never know what the cards hold.” For what it’s worth, Cashman said earlier this week that a contract extension is on the table for the Yankees’ best player, although he also acknowledged that you “can’t predict or tell you how it plays out or what happens next.”

To borrow an expression used throughout the Yankees parts of the Internet, “Get it done, Cash.”

MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: It’s been known for a while that the Yankees are looking at center field options for 2022, since Aaron Hicks’s health is obviously a concern and they lack any true center fielders with major league experience on the roster. Now, we have some idea as to where in the market they’re looking. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi has linked the Yankees to Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, who has been dangled as a trade piece by the Pirates, albeit for a substantial price. NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty has also noted that the team has at least inquired into Starling Marte’s market.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Just as obvious as the Yankees’ interest in the center field market has been their interest in this historic shortstop market. Noting that Gleyber Torres was much more comfortable after returning to second base late in the season — “it was almost a relief for him,” he said — and that this winter is “certainly the year of the shortstop,” Cashman made it clear that the Yankees are engaged with the top of the market at the position. That top of the market includes former Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who was embroiled in the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, as the Yankees general manager indicated that potential ire from the fans “is not going to enter [his] calculus right now.”