Around the Empire: Yankees news - 1/6/22

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: With Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Javier Báez off the board, only Carlos Correa and Trevor Story remain unsigned from the group of superstar free agent shortstops. MLBTR ran down a list of Story’s likeliest suitors, and identified the Mariners, Astros, and Red Sox as the most likely landing spots. They placed the Yankees in the next group down in terms of fit, as despite the well-publicized need for a shortstop, all signs seem to be pointing toward a stopgap while the team waits for one or either of Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza to graduate to the bigs.

MLB.com | Mike Lupica: Yesterday was the 102nd anniversary of the official announcement of Babe Ruth’s trade from the Red Sox to the Yankees. With the trade, the game of baseball would change forever. The sport had never seen power to the extent that Ruth displayed in the Bronx, breaking his previous home record of 29 by hitting 54 in his first year with the Bombers. He would go on to win four World Series titles in the heart of the Murderers’ Row lineup and cement himself in American history.

New York Post | Dan Martin: Newly-promoted Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson recently shared his philosophical approach to hitting. He emphasizes “hit strikes hard,” which aligns with the “controlling the zone” and “doing damage” philosophies that the Yankees have strived to teach since Aaron Boone took over as manager in 2018. Given the near team-wide offensive regression — particularly from Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Gary Sánchez, and Joey Gallo — it made sense for the Yankees to move on from previous hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere. Time will tell if Lawson is able to convey his message in a more effective manner than the coaches who came before him.

NJ Advance Media | Joe Giglio: Following Jeff McNeil’s fight with Francisco Lindor and his apparent redundancy on the Mets’ roster given their offseason signings, some have speculated that the utilityman could be shopped on the trade market. Giglio floats the trade scenario that would see McNeil and Gleyber Torres swap boroughs. Both are at relative nadirs in trade value and could be bounce-back candidates with a change of scenery. Ultimately, it’s hard to see how this trade makes sense for either side, but such is the nature of offseason speculation.