Yankees 2024 roster projection 1.0: Where team stands ahead of MLB Winter Meetings

June 11, 2024

The New York Yankees made their first moves of the offseason last week. General manager Brian Cashman elected to non-tender relief pitchers Lou Trivino, Albert Abreu and Anthony Misiewicz, and traded Jake Bauers to the Milwaukee Brewers for a pair of minor leaguers. Those moves gave the Yankees four openings on their 40-man roster.

Their main additions of the offseason likely won’t be made until next month when MLB’s Winter Meetings kick off in Nashville, Tenn. The meetings typically kick off MLB’s offseason, but the Philadelphia Phillies got started on Sunday, re-signing starting pitcher Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract.

Cashman didn’t reveal much last week when asked about the team’s offseason plans and whether he thinks the Yankees are in position to land a prominent player in free agency or through trade.

“We’re always trying,” Cashman said. “We’re knocking on those doors. We’re having those conversations. I think Hal Steinbrenner and his family have run it the way that if there’s an opportunity that’s worth pushing through on, they’re always there to allow that to happen. It’s about a team situation and how the collective all works out. We’ll see how the winter plays out. We’re going to have conversations with the big ones and the small ones.”

With two weeks to go until the Winter Meetings, let’s take a look at where things stand with the roster and how some new additions could potentially shake things up.

2024 projected lineup

1. DJ LeMahieu, 3B
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Juan Soto, LF
4. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
6. Gleyber Torres, 2B
7. Kevin Kiermaier, CF
8. Jose Trevino, C
9. Anthony Volpe, SS

Yankees land another superstar

The Padres’ Juan Soto could be on the trading block and would be of interest to the Yankees if so. (Quinn Harris / Getty Images)

The San Diego Padres are likely to slash payroll this offseason. The easiest way to do that is by trading Juan Soto, who’s projected to earn more than $30 million through the arbitration process. San Diego can get out of an additional financial commitment by including Jake Cronenworth in a deal with Soto.

Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, told reporters in Arizona earlier this month at MLB’s GM meetings that the Padres’ leadership group said they were planning on keeping Soto.

“(I) met with the Padres. They laid out their plan for next year, which obviously included a lineup that definitely includes Juan Soto,” Boras said. “He’s their one .900-OPS player. They’re obviously looking for more left-handed bats rather than less.”

But if they need to lower their payroll, it will be challenging to keep him. The Yankees are one of a handful of teams that have what the Padres would be looking for in a deal for Soto: pitching.

New York’s organizational strength is its pitching depth. Nestor Cortes, Clarke Schmidt and Michael King have multiple years of team control remaining, and any one of them could fit what the Padres would be looking for. In the farm system, they have minor league pitcher of the year Drew Thorpe, top prospect Chase Hampton and solid depth in Randy Vásquez and Will Warren. The Yankees also have outfielder Everson Pereira, who would become expendable if the Yankees dealt for Soto. How about a deal with Schmidt, Pereira and starting pitcher Clayton Beeter for Soto, Cronenworth and cash?

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has to make big moves this offseason to regain the trust of a fan base that largely believes the organization isn’t trending in the right direction. Making a deal for Soto would change the perception of the Yankees quickly.

New center fielder

If the Yankees add Soto and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (below), it’s unlikely they sign Cody Bellinger to a lucrative deal in free agency. Given the likely price of his contract, the Yankees might want to avoid a hitter who comes with some risk.

Getting Kevin Kiermaier would be a short-term solution as the team waits for Jasson Domínguez to return from Tommy John surgery at some point in the middle of the season. Adding Kiermaier would give the Yankees one of the best overall fielders in the sport and some much-needed athleticism.

Keeping Torres?

If the Yankees were to acquire both Soto and Yamamoto, that would likely push their payroll to or above $300 million, a number Steinbrenner has expressed hesitancy over. One way for the Yankees to shed a chunk of payroll would be to trade Gleyber Torres, who’s in his final year of team control before becoming a free agent next offseason. Acquiring Cronenworth with Soto in this hypothetical scenario would give the Yankees an obvious replacement for Torres, or Oswald Peraza could end up getting the role.

But the Yankees might not be eager to trade Torres — he’s one of the best offensive second basemen in the sport and one of the only good hitters they employed in 2023.

Bench

• Jake Cronenworth, INF
• Austin Wells, C
• Manuel Margot, OF
• Oswald Peraza, INF

Two-time All-Star added

Jake Cronenworth’s positional versatility is his strength. (Rob Leiter / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Cronenworth has trended in the wrong direction since his first All-Star season in 2021. He finished 2023 with a sub-.700 OPS and a 92 wRC+. He doesn’t hit the ball hard and doesn’t get much quality contact. But his strength is his ability to play multiple positions. The Yankees would have to hope new hitting coach James Rowson could unlock the potential Cronenworth showed in his first two seasons.

He has a seven-year, $80 million contract beginning in 2024 that the Padres would have to pay down for any team to acquire him, but doing so would lessen the cost of landing Soto.

New backup catcher

The Yankees tendered a contract to Kyle Higashioka by Friday night’s deadline, but the expectation remains that the veteran won’t return next season. With Jose Trevino expected to be fully recovered from wrist surgery when camp opens, he likely will resume his starting spot as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

Wells started looking more comfortable at the plate in the final two weeks of the season, and the Yankees could use some more pop in the lineup. Scouts and rival executives are still not sold he’ll stick at catcher.

Depth in the outfield

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees and Rays have had trade conversations about Manuel Margot, who’s under contract for $10 million in 2024 and has a $12 million mutual option for 2025 or a $2 million buyout. Lack of depth in the outfield was an issue for the Yankees in 2023. Having someone like Margot as the team’s fourth outfielder to begin the season would put them in a better spot heading into 2024.

Rotation

• Gerrit Cole
• Carlos Rodón
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto
• Nestor Cortes
• Michael King

New Japanese star

Much of the focus this year was on the Yankees’ struggling offense, but the starting pitching was just as dreadful. Rodón and Luis Severino were disasters. Cortes wasn’t healthy and was mostly ineffective when he was available. Cole was a reliable constant.

Yamamoto, 25, would give the Yankees another front-line starter who still has several years remaining in his prime. If Rodón can return to the pitcher he was with the San Francisco Giants, the Yankees’ top three would be special.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be a sought-after free agent when he’s posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball club. (Kyodo News via Associated Press)

Yamamoto isn’t as intimidating as Cole and Rodón frame-wise, as he stands at just 5-foot-10 and weighs 176 pounds, but he has an upper-90s fastball with a devastating curveball and splitter. He’d likely cost the Yankees over $200 million, but the two-time MVP, three-time Sawamura Award winner (Nippon Professional Baseball’s equivalent of a Cy Young Award), three-time pitching Triple Crown winner and Olympic gold medalist is worth the cost.

The Yankees are far from the only team interested — the New York Mets are one potential suitor, and owner Steve Cohen has already shown that money is no object. Steinbrenner could theoretically outbid him, but will he? That remains to be seen.

King’s workload

This year was the first that King eclipsed 100 innings since 2018, his first year in the Yankees’ minor-league system. King started his professional career as a starting pitcher, and these past two years were the first where he entered camp exclusively as a reliever. Because of numerous injuries this season, the Yankees were desperate for a starter and turned to King. In nine starts, King finished with 51 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings and a 2.23 ERA. Encouragingly, King’s stuff as a starter remained as elite as it is out of the bullpen. He’s earned a spot in the rotation, and the Yankees are currently preparing for him to be a starter when spring training begins in February.

But a larger workload should give the Yankees some pause. They likely need more depth, even if they add Yamamoto, and it’s why bringing back Frankie Montas on an incentive-laden deal makes sense. Even though Montas isn’t projected here, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back in pinstripes now that he’s healthy.

Bullpen

• Clay Holmes, RHP
• Jonathan Loáisiga, RHP
• Tommy Kahnle, RHP
• Scott Effross, RHP
• Ian Hamilton, RHP
• Jhony Brito, RHP
• Luis Gil, RHP
• Wandy Peralta, LHP

Wandy back?

The Yankees don’t need a left-handed reliever, although it would be a luxury. Effross, who will return from Tommy John surgery in 2024, has reverse splits. He is disgusting against left-handed batters, as they hit .127/.225/.211 in 81 plate appearances in 2022. He’s much less effective against righties.

Peralta was the glue of the Yankees’ bullpen these past couple of seasons. He’s a leader of this group and beloved inside the clubhouse. He’s also one of the best at generating soft contact and groundballs. He’s a good option for the Yankees to keep around if they can, but will they? One thing the Yankees do extremely well is find bullpen arms; they may want to save some money with this spot and find a cheaper option than what Peralta will be as a free agent who should get somewhere around $5 million per season.

Brito in the ‘pen

Brito was ineffective as a starter, with opposing hitters posting an .889 OPS against him. But he was lights-out as a reliever in a multi-inning role. With King moving to the rotation, Brito can fill King’s spot as the Yankees’ multi-inning guy. In 12 appearances out of the bullpen, he held opposing hitters to a .504 OPS and his sweeper looks like a legit out pitch.

(Top photo of Juan Soto: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

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