NYY News: Working on contingencies
Yesterday at 12:00 AM
Crisis-proofing the roster and trying to get out from under Stroman; early MLB predictions; breaking down new IFA
New York Post | Joel Sherman ($): Right now, the 2025 Yankees look fairly similar to rosters we've seen in previous years — there is real talent in-house, but it's a top-heavy club. An injury here or a 40th-percentile projection outcome there, and the team will likely leave quite a few wins on the table. Shoring up the roster with some high-floor pieces would help "crisis-proof" the 2025 season, but you only get 26 spots and the Yankees are only going to spend so much money to do that.
One of the hurdles stopping the Yankees is the contract of Marcus Stroman, which Sherman reports the club will need to move off its books before any major deal can be struck. Stroman will be 34 on May 1st, and is due $18.5 million in 2025, with a vesting clause that adds a player option to his deal if he reaches 140 innings pitched this season. Stay tuned for more on this later today from Estevão.
Yahoo! Sports | Russell Dorey: With spring training on the horizon, it's time for some partially prescient, persnickety, possibly pompous predictions. Five best guesses about how the 2025 regular season will play out are featured here, with perhaps the hottest take that the Yankees will outperform their crosstown rivals. Much of the early offseason was centered on the bidding war the two New York franchises got into over Juan Soto, and while Steve Cohen wasn't to be denied in his pursuit, it's still quite plausible the Bronx Bombers end up the better team overall. It's never been a bad bet to wager on LolMets shenanigans.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: We were able to post late yesterday that the Yankees inked their top international free agent target, Dominican shortstop Mani Cedeño. Now, Hoch gives us a breakdown of the tools Cedeño will bring into the Yankee system, namely his bat speed and easy footwork at shortstop. It'll be a long time before we get real rumors of Mani making the majors (he doesn't turn 17 until August), but for right now the potential is easy to see, and it's on the Yankees to bring it out in full.
