Tyler Wade’s World Is Versatile

NEW YORK—The Yankees have what every organization covets: depth at shortstop. They have so much depth that Tyler Wade and Jorge Mateo could move to second base or the outfield.

Wade has impressed the Yankees with his versatility, which increased when he played the outfield in the Arizona Fall League.

“There is no question he will play in the big leagues,” general manager Brian Cashman said of the 22-year-old Wade, a fourth-round pick in 2013 out of high school in Murrieta, Calif.

“He is extremely athletic. I was at a game in the Fall League where he was in right field and made a tough catch at the wall with ease. He hadn’t played the position much. I was shocked at how comfortable he was making the play.”

Drafted as a shortstop, the lefthanded-hitting Wade played the position exclusively in 2013. He appeared in 15 games at second base in 2014, 24 in 2015 and 28 for Double-A Trenton last season.

Even before the Yankees acquired Gleyber Torres from the Cubs last July for Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees were deep at short. Didi Gregorius has been solid in the big leagues for the past two years.

Gregorius enters his third season as the big league shortstop. Torres and Mateo likely will open at Trenton, with Wade at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Wade played second base and outfield during instructional league and could become a true utility player.

“He could have stayed at short, but on this team he would have to compete with other people,” Cashman said of Wade, who batted .259/.352/.349 in 133 games at Trenton last season with 27 stolen bases in 35 attempts.

The Yankees invited Wade to big league camp for the for the first time this year.

YANKEE DOODLES

• Pat McMahon is moving from the director of international development to the staff in Tampa, where he will work with outfielders. Joe Lithgow, with the Yankees since 2009, will remain as the director of the Latin baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.

• After 10 years managing in the system Tony Franklin will shift to the player-development program in Tampa to work with rehabbing position players and handle special assignments. Franklin managed Rookie-level Pulaski the past two seasons.

— George King covers the Yankees for the New York Post