Isiah Kiner-Falefa came to the Yankees in a bit of a no-win position. He wasn’t the biggest name acquired or moved in the trade with the Twins that brought him and Josh Donaldson to New York, but he was brought in for a purpose. With the plug pulled on the Gleyber Torres’ shortstop era, the Yankees needed someone to man the position while the team waited for some of their minor league talent to develop.
The Yankees didn’t necessarily have to bring in him as a stopgap, as there was a fairly loaded free agent class at shortstop, with Corey Seager and Carlos Correa, among others, available.