22-year-old Tyler Wade has better athleticism, speed, defensive ability, and emerging power than any of the other options Yankees manager Joe Girardi has at his disposal to replace the injured Didi Gregorius.
As of now, Gregorius is slated to miss the first four to six weeks of the new season. But that timeline says nothing about Gregorius’ ability to pick up where he left off for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
Should Gregorius show signs of rust once he comes off the disabled list, or worse, re-injure himself, the Yankees need to have someone who can fill in at short for the long haul — Pete Kozma, Ronald Torreyes, Ruben Tejada, or Donovan Solano are not the answer.