Gavin Lux makes painfully clear that Yankees made a mistake passing him up in trade talks

It's no secret that the New York Yankees are interested in adding an infielder before the offseason ends. Brian Cashman's post-Juan Soto pivot has checked a lot of boxes — Max Fried atop the rotation, Cody Bellinger in the outfield, Paul Goldschmidt replacing Anthony Rizzo, Devin Williams replacing Clay Holmes — but he's still yet to find a way to fill the void left by Gleyber Torres, forcing fans to confront the possibility of rolling out some combination of DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera on Opening Day.

It seemed like an ideal candidate had finally presented itself last week, when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim — a pretty clear signal that former top prospect Gavin Lux was no longer in the team's plans. Lux had yet to make good on the propsect hype that surrounded him after being selected in the first round back in 2016, but he seemed poised to finally break out before tearing his ACL in the spring of 2023. He's still just 27, and he fit the bill for a team looking to upgrade its defense and base-running; if Cashman didn't want to shell out for someone like Willy Adames or Alex Bregman, Lux made a ton of sense as a buy-low candidate.

And yet, Lux too passed the Yankees by, sent to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night for a return that New York surely could have matched if it had been sufficiently motivated. Maybe Cashman has another trick up his sleeve. But the well is beginning to run dry at this point in the offseason, and barring a minor miracle, New York might live to regret passing this opportunity up — especially if Lux's first press appearance as a Red is any indication.

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Yankees could regret not trading for infielder Gavin Lux

Lux's full-season numbers from 2024 won't blow anyone away. He slashed .251/.320/.383 (101 OPS+) with 10 homers and five steals in 139 games, good for 2.1 bWAR. But he looked better and better as the season went on: In the second half, his slash line rose to .304/.391/.508, with 16 doubles and seven homers in just 61 games. That paints the picture of someone who needed time to recover from the major knee surgery he underwent in March of 2023, and Lux himself told reporters that he noticed a difference down the stretch.

"It helped getting further away from surgery and to start trusting it again. I just tried to do more damage. I think I tried to get on base and control the strike zone so much that I didn’t really take any chances to do damage. I kind of just said, ‘Screw it, I’ll trust my eyes and I’m not going to chase the ball. I’m not going to swing at balls. I’m not going to chase outside of the zone.’ Then I just tried to start doing a little more damage, taking more shots."

If Lux looks more like he did in the second half of 2024 next season, Yankees fans are going to be kicking themselves wondering why Cashman didn't do more to acquire an obvious bounce-back candidate at a position of need. Or rather, positions: Lux has experience just about everywhere in the infield and outfield over his career, defensive versatility that the Yankees could certainly use.

"I think if I have enough time and heads-up, I can be ready to play wherever these guys need me to," Lux said on Tuesday.

There's still time for Cashman to find someone else to fill the Torres void. If he doesn't act fast, though — or if Luis Arraez or Jorge Polanco don't pan out — those quotes could live rent-free in the heads of Yankees fans next season and beyond.