Memorial Day Weekend usually means the Stanley Cup Final is about to start, the great three-race Sunday (Monaco, Indy, Charlotte) is upon us, the Clay Boy Invitational is set to begin, and the baseball season has hit its first significant in-season checkpoint. Instead, we're still stuck in a holding pattern, with the Coca-Cola 600 the only Memorial Day Weekend fixture that will take place as originally scheduled (without fans, of course).
We are starting to see some progress on the sports front, though. NBA facilities have reopened, the NHL has presented its players with a 24-team postseason plan, and MLB is still trying to work out its issues between owners and players that will result in a return to the field by the Fourth of July (benchmark No. 2).
Whenever the baseball season starts (assuming there is a season), there'll be some changes necessitated by the situation. Because of the short length of Spring Training 2.0 and the lack of Minor League seasons, rosters will probably be larger than the standard 26 (which only became the standard this year). Teams will most likely have 30-man active rosters, with a "taxi squad" of Double- and Triple-A players available in case of injury.
The crazy thing about this season is that some teams actually benefited from the delay. The Yankees were going to start the season without Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and James Paxton, and Giancarlo Stanton was also set to miss Opening Day. With the possible exception of Hicks, all four should be ready to go once they actually do get started. That could be huge since getting out to a good start will be even more important in a season that's only half as long.
Although, that creates the same "problem" they were dealing with throughout the entire offseason...trying to find a place for everybody to play! Brett Gardner went from fourth outfielder to starting center fielder back to fourth outfielder. Had Opening Day been March 26 like it was supposed to, the Yankee outfield would've been Mike Tauchman in left, Gardner in center, Clint Frazier in right. When the season actually starts, the regular outfield of Stanton-Hicks-Judge should all be good to go.
Same thing with the pitching staff. The Yankees were having all kinds of issues trying to figure out who'd be the fifth starter in April and early May until Paxton was ready. No such problem anymore. The rotation of Cole, Paxton, Tanaka, Happ, Montgomery is all set and (presumably) all healthy. Severino's out for the year, and Domingo German's suspension is 81 games, so he won't be available at all this season, either.
I'm still curious to see how the roster will be constructed, though. Because even with those four extra spots, there are still plenty of decisions to be made. Especially when you consider Judge, Hicks, Stanton and Paxton were all supposed to start the season on the injured list. So, they're effectively taking those four spots.
Clint Frazier is probably the most interesting of the now bubble guys. He was borderline to make the team until they realized the extent of Judge's injury. Then, when Stanton went down, Frazier's roster spot went from secure to a starting position in right field.
Now that all three regulars will likely be available (or close to it) when the season starts, though, is there a place for Frazier? Gardner will obviously be on the team, and Tauchman is more valuable than Frazier for a few reasons (he's actually a good outfielder, he can play all three positions, and, most importantly, he's left-handed). Plus, Miguel Andujar was able to hold his own in left field during Spring Training 1.0, so I don't think Aaron Boone would have any hesitation putting him out there so either Stanton or Judge can DH.
Besides, assuming there are six bench guys, do you really want use up three of them on outfielders? Luke Voit is the only first baseman on the roster (although LeMahieu can also play there), so maybe it's worth it to have Mike Ford, another left-handed hitter, as a backup. Under normal circumstances, they'd have to choose between Ford and Frazier. Fortunately, unless they want to carry a third catcher (which may not be a bad idea), there's room for both of them.
While they brought a bunch of veteran catchers into camp as non-roster invitees, Kyle Higashioka is out of Minor League options and already on the 40-man roster. That, and the fact that he already knows the Yankee pitchers from his seemingly annual call-ups over the past few seasons, means he's still the front-runner to be Gary Sanchez's backup.
Likewise, Tyler Wade should be a lock to make the team as the utility infielder. LeMahieu is now the starter at second, so they can't just rely on moving him all over the place like they did last year. And Wade is really the only viable option as a backup shortstop now that Gleyber will be playing short full-time. Plus, I'll say it again. With the starting lineup overwhelmingly right-handed, having a left-handed hitter on the bench isn't a bad thing.
So, that leaves us with the bullpen. This year was the first time MLB set a maximum on the number of pitchers you're allowed to have on the roster (because it was getting ridiculous with teams carrying 10 relievers and two bench players!). It was going to be 13, so I'll assume that if the rosters are 30 players, they'll be capped at 15 pitchers. Which still gives them a 10-man bullpen after you take out the starters.
Five of those spots are already locked in--Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle and Green. Luis Cessa was the long man last year and I don't see any reason for that to be any different, so he's six. Likewise, I can easily see Jonathan Loaisiga moving into that Dellin Betances role. Even though the organization may still view him as a future starter, he has more value as a reliever right now. Jonathan Holder probably would've been the eighth reliever on the 26-man roster, so there's no reason to think he wouldn't be included in a 10-man bullpen.
That leaves us with two remaining bullpen pieces. There are plenty of pitchers on the 40-man roster. One of them is Ben Heller, who was assigned to Scranton just before the roster freeze. Still, with no RailRiders for him to join, Heller is an easy call to join the big league bullpen. And I think they'll go with lefty Tyler Lyons, a non-roster invitee who was actually on the Yankees' postseason roster last year. He didn't allow a run over five appearances in the original Spring Training.
And there you have it. My 30-man Yankees roster for Opening Day 2020, whenever that may be, is:
SP: Gerrit Cole, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, JA Happ, Jordan Montgomery
RP: Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, Jonathan Holder, Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa, Ben Heller, Tyler Lyons
C: Gary Sanchez, Kyle Higashioka
IF: Luke Voit (1B), D.J. LeMahieu (2B), Gleyber Torres (SS), Gio Urshela (3B), Miguel Andujar (DH), Tyler Wade, Mike Ford
OF: Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner, Mike Tauchman, Clint Frazier
No comments:
Post a Comment