TAMPA — The Cubs provided a season-long tutorial last season on the blessings of positional versatility.

Three games into the schedule, they lost Kyle Schwarber for the rest of the regular season. Yet they won 103 games, in part, because their regular second baseman (Ben Zobrist), regular third baseman (Kris Bryant) and emerging young catcher (Willson Contreras) frequently played left field.

In fact, the permanent move of Zobrist to left for the postseason was seminal because it allowed another versatile player, Javier Baez, to become their regular second baseman, which raised the proficiency of an already exceptional defense.

But to call Baez a second baseman is like calling Troy Polamalu, in his prime, a strong safety, when he might be linebacker, blitzer, in man-to-man coverage or roaming as a free safety. Baez was moved as much as possible, wherever the Cubs thought the ball might be hit, to best capitalize on his defensive genius.

More and more, this is the game in the age of shifting and better data to pinpoint where each batter is most likely to hit the ball against each pitcher — and even which type of pitch. Second base is the position you write into a scorebook for Baez, but it does not reflect his use.

I know the shifting in baseball offends some. But the idea of a defense in any sport is to best limit the opposing offense, often by taking away what it does best. You wouldn’t have Kawhi Leonard guard a small forward if the opposing high scorer is the shooting guard. And so you don’t have Baez play in some small area because that is where Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan played, not when there is better information than ever to help in alignment.

And if you are wondering how I am about to transition this to the Yankees, here we go: One thought that has emerged is, what do they do with a growing logjam of shortstops — notably Didi Gregorius in the majors, and Jorge Mateo, Gleyber Torres and Tyler Wade edging ever closer to The Show?

First and foremost, consider it a problem that most teams would love to have. The Cubs did have it, and Starlin Castro and Torres are Yankees because Baez and Addison Russell made them expendable. As always, talented shortstops are desired on the trade market — in part because they are viewed as players who can play elsewhere.

Teams often keep their prospects at shortstop in the minors for just that reason: to preserve their value.

But I think that is old thinking as well. No one is going to dismiss the shortstop abilities of Mateo, Torres and Wade if they play only half to two-thirds of their games at short. The Yankees should be moving them around to prepare them for the job they are most likely to have if they reach the majors. Gregorius is not a free agent until after the 2019 season, and he projects as the superior defender of this group.

Keep in mind that Baez and Zobrist came up shortstops. Their maneuverability has made them regular players, but not at one position. Perhaps there is a future for Mateo, Torres and Wade of 120 to 145 games a year, but not in one place. The Yankees have been crying out for more athleticism on the roster; this is a way to get it in the near future, and the Yanks are planning to have all of them move around.

Wade has some outside chance to make the major league roster, but the likelihood is he will begin at Triple-A. Know that the Yankees love Wade more than the industry (outfield prospect Dustin Fowler falls into that category, too). They see a baseball gym rat, a feeling that was only enhanced when he instantly took to right field in the Arizona Fall League.

Wade added about 10 pounds of upper-body muscle, and the Yankees believe that will help his bat develop even more, catching up to what they think are already major league defensive middle-infield skills.

Mateo and Torres are earmarked for Double-A, which means only one can line up at shortstop daily. The most frequent alignment is likely to be Torres at short and Mateo at second, as it was at High-A last year after Torres’ acquisition — though in private moments, the Yankees would admit Torres is probably headed toward being an offensive second baseman in the majors.

Mateo is also expected to get reps in center field to see if his unique speed plays out there.

In the past, this would all be received with trepidation by players worried about being labeled utilitymen. But the wave of the future is about versatility. The Cubs’ brilliant president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, told me last October that he thought the need for 650 plate appearances is passé, and that getting 500-ish was fine as a way to keep the players fresh all season, always have a good contingent on the field and always have strong in-game options for his manager.

The Yankees have a chance to point in an even stronger way toward that model — to be more athletic and versatile on both sides of the ball.