Team Previews 2021: New York Yankees
All projections courtesy of Fangraphs.
Projected Record: 96-66 (1st in AL East)
2021 is, as per usual, a World Series or bust season for the Yankees. They’ve been in their window for about 4 years now, failing to make it past the ALCS. Last year had them coming second in the division and securing a Wild Card spot, to ultimately get bounced by the Rays in the Division Series. On the whole, this offseason was about keeping the gang together for another run, and hope for better health. Their number one priority was resigning reigning AL Batting Champion DJ LeMahieu, which they did to the tune of $90 million over the next six years. They also brought back Brett Gardner as a bench piece for the next two years, while acquiring Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon, both of whom are trying to work back from significant injuries. They will also be without the services of James Paxton, J.A. Happ, and Adam Ottavino, the first two leaving in free agency and the latter being dealt to the Red Sox.
Projected Opening Day Starting Lineup
| Order | Player | Position | Bats |
| 1 | DJ LeMahieu | 2B | R |
| 2 | Aaron Judge | RF | R |
| 3 | Aaron Hicks | CF | S |
| 4 | Giancarlo Stanton | DH | R |
| 5 | Luke Voit | 1B | R |
| 6 | Gleyber Torres | SS | R |
| 7 | Gary Sanchez | C | R |
| 8 | Clint Frazier | LF | R |
| 9 | Gio Urshela | 3B | R |
The Yankees project to have one of the best lineups in baseball, with Torres, Judge, and LeMahieu all projected for over 4 WAR by ZiPS. Torres is looking to have a big bounceback season, currently expected to hit .284/.364/.526 with 33 home runs. As one of the best hitting shortstops in baseball, his value (and long-term hopes of remaining in the position) will be heavily influenced by his thus far sub-par defense. Much of the Yankees season offensively will be determined by the health of Judge and Stanton. Both have struggled to remain on the field in recent years, but even conservative estimates of their playing time this year project to yield about 70-80 combined home runs. For an indication of how deep this lineup is when fully healthy, their 9 hitter will often be Giovanny Urshela, who has been a combined roughly .300 hitter since joining New York in 2019.
Projected Opening Day Rotation
| Role | Player | Throw |
| SP1 | Gerrit Cole | R |
| SP2 | Corey Kluber | R |
| SP3 | Jameson Taillon | R |
| SP4 | Jordan Montgomery | L |
| SP5 | Domingo German | R |
Projected Opening Day Bullpen
| Role | Player | Throws |
| LR | Nick Nelson | R |
| MR | Luis Cessa | R |
| MR | Jonathan Loaisiga | R |
| MR | Justin Wilson | L |
| MR | Darren O'Day | R |
| SU | Chad Green | R |
| SU | Zack Britton | L |
| CL | Aroldis Chapman | L |
The Yankees starting pitching staff could be fairly well illustrated as:
- Gerrit Cole
- Some Kluber
- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- ?
- Luis Severino eventually
Similar, but to even a larger extreme, the success of the rotation is pretty much entirely health based. Cole, Kluber, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German, and Luis Severino could turn out to provide a lot of depth and flexibility in a full season which will probably require six starters to work back from the shortened 2020. However, Kluber and Taillon haven’t been healthy in 2 years. German is coming off a long domestic violence suspension. Severino won’t be coming back from the IL until summer. Likely they will turn to some of their young pitchers, namely Deivi Garcia, to make spot starts as well. The bullpen is fairly deep, as it typically is with New York. Chapman, Britton, and Green will be aided by the additions of Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson.
If the Yankees can stay somewhat healthy, this is likely a division winning, 100ish win team.
Top Prospects:
- Jasson Dominguez
- Deivi Garcia
- Oswald Peraza
- Clarke Schmidt
- Alexander Vargas
- Luis Medina
- Kevin Alcantara
- Ezequiel Duran
- Yoendrys Gomez