Now that the owners have unanimously ratified the new MLB collective bargaining agreement, a massive frenzy will begin.
Contact with players will be able to begin again and free agent signings as well as trades will be allowed. We could see players signed and moved immediately.
The Yankees only made two free agent acquisitions before the lockout: Joely Rodriguez and Jose Peraza.
They cut bait with Tyler Wade (traded to the Los Angeles Angels), Clint Frazier (signed with the Chicago Cubs), and Rougned Odor (signed with the Baltimore Orioles).
Compared to the Mets, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detroit Tigers, it's been a very underwhelming offseason thus far for the Yanks.
They weren't able to make any moves for as long as the lockout was in place, but with it close to over, GM Brian Cashman could be primed to smash the call button on all his phones and make that long-awaited splash.
Here are five (pretty obvious) things the Yankees need to do with the lockout over...
Get your shortstop
The Yankees have decided that Gleyber Torres is their second baseman moving forward. Both Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have said that they needed a shortstop. And when the former top prospect in all of baseball was supposed to be that, and you’re saying that position is a necessity, the experiment is over.
Corey Seager is gone. Javier Baez is gone. New York was showing interest in Carlos Correa before the lockout, and was keeping tabs on Trevor Story at the trade deadline.
But no matter the case, Torres is not a shortstop, and Gio Urshela should only play shortstop in an emergency. DJ LeMahieu is simply not a shortstop option -- he has played just 12 defensive outs there in his career, none since 2014.
Getting a shortstop, whoever it may be, is priority No. 1.
Get your first baseman
Luke Voit got the short end of the stick when the Yankees acquired Anthony Rizzo. It was a move that had to be made – they needed a left-handed bat and an improvement defensively. When Rizzo had to sit out with COVID-19, Voit performed, but when his at-bats started to shrink, so did his results.
When Voit is a full-time player, he can mash. But he had four separate IL stints last season, missed 44 games in 2019, and was hobbled throughout a large portion of the 60-game season in 2020.
Depending on what the Yankees do with the rest of their infielders, they could rock with Voit as the starter until he gets hurt, and then plug LeMahieu in at first base.
But the first baseman should be a power hitter – something that LeMahieu was not in 2021 (a trend that very well could continue). The combination of Jay Bruce, Mike Ford, and Chris Gittens just didn't cut it.
There are a lot of power-hitting, left-handed options, both via trade (Matt Olson) and free agency (Rizzo, Freddie Freeman) that the Yankees have shown interest in.
You feel bad for Voit, but it's hard to say "thanks but no thanks" to those three guys if they are available.