Yankees roster analysis: Infield depth shows external moves are necessary

Sometimes, you dont want to cook a meal.

Sometimes, rather than grilling a steak, you reach into the freezer for the frozen mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets and fries, and an hour later, youre just as full and satisfied.

(And sleepy.) The New York Yankees will have to convince themselves that this is their new reality without Juan Soto .

Advertisement To compensate for the departure of the best young lefty hitter in the game, they have added Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to their lineup and Max Fried and Devin Williams to their pitching staff.

And theres still some space left on their plate.

Heres a look at where things stand: Starting pitching Rotation: Gerrit Cole , Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt , Carlos Rodon , Luis Gil Uncertain future: Marcus Stroman Prospect depth: Will Warren After Soto signed with the New York Mets , the Yankees strategy became clear: maximize run prevention.

Since 2020, Frieds 2.81 ERA is the lowest in MLB among all pitchers whove thrown at least 500 innings.

With Fried and Cole at the top of the rotation, the Yankees have two of the best starters in baseball at preventing runs.

Frieds signing also allows the Yankees to lessen the expectations on Rodon, who has underperformed in his two seasons with the club.

Schmidt and Gil are two ascending pitchers, with the latter winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award this season.

Before he got hurt in the middle of the season, Schmidt was trending toward being an All-Star.

Stroman could end up getting traded, as the Yankees look to reduce the payroll hit of retaining the veteran on an $18 million contract.

The Yankees starting pitching was a strength in 2024; if injury luck is on their side, it should be an even bigger strength in 2025.

Bullpen Closer: Devin Williams Fireman: Luke Weaver Righties: Jonathan Loaisiga , Ian Hamilton , Jake Cousins , Mark Leiter Jr.

, Fernando Cruz Lefties: None Uncertain futures: Clayton Beeter , Yoendrys Gomez , Yerry De Los Santos, JT Brubaker Williams is one of the best relievers in baseball, having averaged a 1.66 ERA over 148 games over the past three years.

However, he also dealt with stress fractures in his back, which limited him to 22 games last season.

Hell be a free agent after next season.

Advertisement Weaver, once a journeyman starter, thrived last season as a multi-inning reliever and the Yankees closer in the playoffs last year.

Boone will use him to attack the toughest lanes of opposing lineups, leaving the ninth for Williams.

Then it gets interesting for the Yankees.

Theyll almost definitely need to add a lefty, and a reunion with free agent Tim Hill makes sense.

Designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox , Hill had a 2.05 ERA in 35 games after the Yankees picked him up.

The unit should miss lots of bats, and Beeter will likely begin spring training as a starting pitcher, but with his high-octane fastball-slider combination (plus control and command issues), he could dominate out of the bullpen.

Brubaker was the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day starter in 2022 but injuries have kept him out of the majors the past two seasons.

Infield Starters: Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe , Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Battling for a starting job: DJ LeMahieu , Oswaldo Cabrera , Oswald Peraza 40-man depth: Jorbit Vivas , Ben Rice If the Yankees do not sign or trade for another infielder, this will be the group with the most focus come spring training.

Because of Chisholms positional versatility, they can acquire either a second or third baseman.

Outside of signing Alex Bregman, which does not seem likely or realistic, none of the infield options is intriguing on the free-agent market.

Realistic trade targets such as Luis Arraez , Nolan Arenado and Gavin Lux have question marks.

This is an important year for Volpe.

He has underwhelmed at the plate, and hitting was the No.

1 reason the Yankees initially believed in his becoming the starting shortstop.

Volpe impressed in the postseason, but hes had several short-sample stretches in his two seasons of being above-average offensively.

Can he do that over a full season? Goldschmidt is coming off the worst season of his career, but advanced metrics point to the 37-year-olds not being completely washed.

A full season of Chisholm could be a needed boost for the Yankees.

Advertisement As a whole, the infield comes with some risk especially offensively at nearly every position.

Outfield Starters: Aaron Judge , Cody Bellinger On the cusp: Jasson Dominguez Question marks: Trent Grisham , Everson Pereira , Spencer Jones Hasnt played defense since 2023: Giancarlo Stanton After spending a year in center field to accommodate Soto, Judge slides back to right field, where the eye test says hes an excellent defender in front of Yankee Stadiums short porch.

Yet, Statcast says he was worth minus-2 Outs Above Average when he last played there full time in 2023.

He posted an MLB-best 218 wRC+ with 58 home runs last year.

The Yankees havent committed to Bellinger as their regular center fielder, but it seems likely thats where hell play.

Though the Yankees could try him in left field with Dominguez in center field, Bellinger has much more experience in center, and with his opt-out looming at the end of the season, hed surely prefer to play where hes comfortable.

The Yankees will hope the short right field plays to Bellingers lefty swing and that hes better than the 109 wRC+ he put up last year.

Dominguez seems like a lock to be the left fielder.

Though he was shaky at the position in an audition late last season, a winter of working out there should get him up to speed.

Just 22 years old, the Yankees love his lefty power, though as a switch hitter, he still has work to do from the right side.

Grisham ($5 million) could be a trade candidate if the Yankees want to shed salary, though hes an excellent fourth outfielder from a defensive perspective.

The Yankees hope Pereira, who turns 24 in April, can still capitalize on his high-end talent.

The Athletics Keith Law had Pereira ranked as MLBs No.

63 overall prospect heading into last season, calling him a potential All-Star.

In June, he needed season-ending UCL surgery.

Jones, their 2022 first-round pick, could repeat Double A after striking out 200 times in 544 plate appearances last year.

He could also break out and be another Judge type with his size (6-foot-6), power and athleticism.

Advertisement Stanton will be the designated hitter once again.

He hit 27 homers with a .298 on-base percentage last year.

Catcher Starter: Austin Wells Backup options: J.C.

Escarra , Alex Jackson Prospect depth: Jesus Rodriguez With the Yankees trading Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds , Wells enters spring training with no competition for the starting job.

As a prospect, Wells was seen as a below-average defender, but hes since developed into one of MLBs best framers.

Hes also an above-average blocker and passable at controlling the running game.

If the Yankees dont bring in another catcher, Escarra could emerge as the backup catcher because of his offensive upside.

Jackson is a clear defense-only option.

One name to watch as a possible backup catcher could be Ben Rice.

Catcher is his natural position, and it would be a way to keep his bat on the bench.

(Top photo of Anthony Volpe: Elsa / Getty Images).

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