Around the Empire: Yankees news - 9/24/21

Yahoo! Sports | Andy Martino: There may be nine games to play still, but it’s never too early to start talking about the offseason — and one of the biggest Yankees stories of this upcoming offseason will inevitably be the shortstop position. Martino makes a few predictions about what GM Brian Cashman might do, noting that the Yankees like Gleyber Torres at second base with DJ LeMahieu playing all over the infield and emphasizing the organization’s high opinion of Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe. Based on this information, he believes that Marcus Semien is “a nearly perfect SS solution” for the Yankees, as he could slide over to second base once one of those prospects is ready.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Jim Bowden of The Athletic recently made some predictions about this upcoming offseason, and boy, does he have some bold ones for the Yankees. Besides the obvious — namely, that the team will seek to add a top-of-the-rotation arm to pair with Gerrit Cole and a shortstop — Bowden sees Cashman attempting to deal Torres, and he cites A’s first baseman Matt Olson and Cubs catcher Willson Contreras as ideal trade targets and Starling Marte as a free agent. While I’m skeptical about both the plausibility of these moves, let alone their viability as good moves, they certainly are a bold way to generate conversation.

Baseball America | Kyle Glaser:* Following a season in which Major League Baseball thrust foreign substances on baseballs into the national spotlight, the league announced that it will be testing pre-tacked baseballs during select Triple-A games over the next week and a half. After pre-tacked baseballs were praised by many pitchers who played overseas or participated in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, this test might be the forerunner to the third change to the baseball within twelve months.

*This is one of those pieces behind a paywall, but is worth your time.