“Pitchers and Catchers” is 28 Days Away for Yankees

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New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman still has work to do (at least one left-handed reliever, and one potential infield starter) before “Pitchers and Catchers” report on February 11, 2025 for the start of the Spring Training in Tampa. Since that’s only 4 weeks away, here’s our first projection of the Yankees 26-man opening day roster.

BATTING ORDER

  1. Anthony Volpe, SS (R)
  2. Cody Bellinger, LF (L)
  3. Aaron Judge, RF (R)
  4. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B (L)
  5. Giancarlo Stanton, DH (R)
  6. Jazz Chisholm, 3B (L)
  7. DJ LeMahieu, 2B (R)
  8. Austin Wells, C (L)
  9. Jason Dominquez, CF (S)

Q: Who is leading off? Volpe is the leading candidate based on his bookend months in 2024. In April and October, he showed a perfect combination of contact, patience and speed. If he becomes more consistent in 2025, he could potentially hold down that role for the next 10 years. Otherwise, you might see Bellinger and Judge move up #1 and #2 respectively.

Q: Where will Jazz play?
In our opinion, Chisholm should remain at 3B. He was competent in his 45 games there with the Yankees in 2024 and would greatly benefit from a full spring of learning the nuances of playing the position. Plus, the known available third basemen come with risk, and most of the internal candidates’ project better at second base. 3B candidates include trade candidates Nolan Arenado (age, declining numbers), Carlos Correa (injury concerns, big contract) and free agent Alex Bregman (projected salary, length of contract).

If no moves are made, DJ LeMahieu will get the first chance based on his contract ($15m per year for 2025 and 2026) and resume (in 2022 he hit 12 HR’s, 46 RBI’s, .261 BA, .357 OBP in 125 games). However, his health and declining exit velocity will have the Yankees continuing to search for alternatives.

RESERVES

  1. J.C. Escarra, C (L)
  2. Oswaldo Cabrera, UTIL (S)
  3. Oswald Peraza, INF (R)
  4. Trent Grisham, OF (L)

With the trade of Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds, there will be a battle for the backup catcher spot between Escarra, Alex Jackson (acquired from the Reds in the Trevino deal), and Ben Rice. More than likely, the Yankees will want Rice playing full-time at Scranton so they can determine if he’s their future full-time first basemen.  Peraza, the former top SS prospect, is out of minor league options so he must be retained or exposed to waivers.

STARTING ROTATION

  1. Gerrit Cole (R)
  2. Max Fried (L)
  3. Clarke Schmidt (R)
  4. Carlos Rodon (L)
  5. Luis Gil (R)
  6. Marcus Stroman (R)

The starting rotation is set unless the Yankees find someone to take Stroman’s salary off their hands so they can divert his funds to either the infield or bullpen. Of course, if that happens, prospect Will Warren would become the Yankees emergency starter after he struggled mightily in his 5 major league starts in 2024.

BULLPEN

  1. Devin Williams (R)
  2. Luke Weaver (R)
  3. Jonathan Loaisiga (R)
  4. Mark Leiter, Jr. (R)
  5. Fernando Cruz (R)
  6. Jake Cousins (R)
  7. Ian Hamilton (R)

On paper, the Yankees bullpen is a lot stronger than last season with more “swing and miss” pitchers including elite closer Devin Williams. The Yankees do need to add a lefty to the pen with two intriguing names left. Journeyman Tim Hill had the most successful stint of his 7-year career with the Yankees last season, pitching in 35 games, 44 innings to a 2.05 ERA. There’s also Tanner Scott, who is coming off two dominant seasons. He is expected to command at least what Jeff Hoffman received from the Toronto Blue Jays (3 years, $33m) which is probably too rich for the Yankees blood. But we bring it up because each of the Yankees 7 World Championships during the Steinbrenner era were won with overwhelmingly dominant bullpens.

28 days until “Pitchers and Catchers” report in Tampa and just 72 days until the Yankees open against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankees Stadium.

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