![]() It’s not bad or anything, it’s just kind of blah given the firepower around the rest of this roster. Left field is a mix of Aaron Hicks, whose career has been upended by injuries over the last four years, and presumably whichever of Volpe and Peraza doesn’t end up sticking at short, though really the Yankees could move a lot of guys there. The alternative is Oswald Peraza (Isaiah Kiner-Falefa is also hanging out on the roster somewhere), who doesn’t have the defensive questions and only hit okay at Triple-A last year, though he showed out in a small sample at the big league level when promoted. Top prospect Anthony Volpe has phenomenal projections, but it’s unclear whether he can actually play an MLB-level shortstop, and for all the hype, he didn’t actually terrorize Double-A as much as you’d expect last year. Shortstop isn’t really a weakness or problem per se, but it’s a bit unsettled. This roster doesn’t have too many weaknesses, but shortstop and left field are obvious places to call out relative to everything else. Maybe even the Aaron Judge of MLB rotations in 2023. That said, this is still a rotation that has the guys it has after losing Frankie Montas for an indefinite period with a shoulder ailment, so they should be just fine. ![]() If there’s one concern about the rotation, it’s that it’s already being peeled apart by injuries, as Rodon has a forearm issue, and Cortes has been dealing with a hamstring problem. That gives the Yankees five average-or-much-better starters, and they’ve got fine depth in the form of guys like Clarke Schmidt. Luis Severino isn’t the 5-6-win version of himself anymore, but is still fine as a mid-rotation arm, and Domingo German is right there too. Nestor Cortes was more-than-solid last year and has over 5 fWAR in his last 250 career innings. Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are two of the ten best-projected pitchers in the game. They’re not exactly favorites in a crowded and competitive AL East, but given the expanded playoffs, they seem fairly likely to secure a playoff spot.Īgain, none of that says much of anything about what the franchise expects from the 2023 team, but that’s not a roster construction problem.Īaron Judge is the obvious answer here, both as the best player on the roster and potentially in baseball at the moment, and just in terms of his stature.īut, beyond the massive boost that Judge is projected to provide to this already-solid roster, the Yankees arguably have the best rotation in baseball. That may not seem like a lot given that they won 99 games last year, but it’s important to remember that projections provide central estimates for everyone, and 89-91 translates to somewhere between the second- and seventh-best record in MLB under a given system. Projections’ central estimates have the Yankees winning 89-91 games in 2023.
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