Article: AL East Preview 2025: New York Yankees

[Nick John]

Fresh off a World Series appearance, the Yankees enter 2025 as one of the American League powerhouses, but injuries and personnel losses may finally be catching up to them.

2024 was a big year for the New York Yankees as they made it back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. It might be a tough task for the team to make it back there as more than a third of their starting lineup was not brought back. Add to it a rotation that has been dealt several injuries already and it’s looking like an uphill battle to repeat as the champs of the American League. But if there’s any franchise you can’t count out, it’s unfortunately the Yankees.

What’s Changed Since Last Year?

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. After trading for Juan Soto entering the 2024 season, the Yankees were unable to hammer out an extension with the star slugger before free agency. After a long free agency period that saw several teams attempt to sway Soto into signing with them, the left-handed slugger remained in New York. But he chose the Mets over the Yankees.

After missing out on the generational hitter, the Yankees pivoted their free agency pursuit and immediately made moves to improve their pitching, the biggest being a seven-year deal with Max Fried, winning a bidding war with the Boston Red Sox. Fried was projected to slot in as the number two pitcher in the rotation when signed (more on that later). The Yankees weren’t finished either, trading for All-Star closer Devin Williams of Milwaukee to take over the ninth inning. They also signed Carlos Carrasco to a minor league deal, and he broke camp with the team.

Offensively, the Yankees swapped out Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo for Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, respectively. Rizzo and Verdugo were allowed to walk in free agency after mixed seasons in 2024. While Rizzo remains unsigned, Verdugo signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves near the end of spring training.

Goldschmidt signed as a free agent after six years in St. Louis. The first baseman will look to add power to the lineup while providing a veteran presence in the clubhouse.

Bellinger came over in a trade with the Chicago Cubs during the winter. Bellinger will be expected to handle center field, allowing Aaron Judge to return to his natural position of right field.

What Remains the Same?

Most of the lineup returns as it will be lead by MVP candidate Aaron Judge. The highly touted Jasson Dominguez also looks to finally play an entire season for the Yankees after getting two short runs the last two seasons. Joining the two outfielders in the lineup includes fellow first-round picks Austin Wells behind the plate and Anthony Volpe at shortstop. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is also back for another season with the Yankees, but this time he’s been projected to play second base instead of third base. Third base will instead be handled by Oswaldo Cabrera after DJ LeMahieu injured himself near the start of spring training games. Ben Rice should also see plenty of at-bats as the team waits for Giancarlo Stanton to be healthy enough to play again.

On the pitching side, the Yankees retained most of their rotation... is what I would like to say if they weren’t injured. Gerrit Cole is gone for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil is out with a strained lat, while Clarke Schmidt is dealing with shoulder fatigue. Because of this, the only starters from last year who are ready for the season are Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman. Will Warren, who made six appearances last year for the Yankees, looks like an option to begin the season in the rotation as well.

The bullpen sees some familiar faces return in the way of Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter Jr. and Tim Hill. Yerry De Los Santos, who pitched in Scranton last season, looks to join the bullpen and provide assistance.

Where Do The Yankees Stand in the 2025 AL East Hierarchy?

As someone who hates the Yankees, I would like to say this team is a steep drop off from last year’s team and the Yankees will struggle all season. But, since I hate them, I also know it won’t happen, as we’ve all seen the Yankees eventually go on a run and put themselves into the conversation for the playoffs regardless of their roster. Despite that, I feel that as currently constructed, the Yankees will have a hard time winning the division and would need to make the playoffs as a Wild Card team.

PECOTA currently has the Yankees projected to finish third in the division, nabbing around 85 wins on the season. They have a 23% chance of winning the division and a meager (for them) 51.1% chance of making the playoffs.

FanGraphs projects the Yankees to have a decent enough lineup with all but Ben Rice having a WAR above 1.0. The team is led by Aaron Judge having a projected 7.4 WAR for the season, followed by Anthony Volpe and his 4.0 WAR. Wells, Bellinger and Chisholm are all projected to have at least a 3.0 WAR as well.

On the pitching side, Max Fried leads the way with a 3.4 WAR, while Carlos Rodón is second with a 2.6 WAR. After that, the rotation is rather average as Stroman is projected to have a 1.5 WAR and Warren a 1.2 WAR. For the bullpen, besides Devin Williams and his 1.4 WAR, there isn’t anyone who FanGraphs feels will stand out WAR wise as the next highest is Fernando Cruz and his 0.8 WAR.

The Yankees might be dealing with injuries to quite a few players to open the season, but if there’s anything I’ve learned from watching New York play against other teams, it’s that they always find a way to improve and win. I wouldn’t be surprised if this team begins to shuffle its roster after less than a month if they get off to a slow start. It seems like they could struggle, but never count the Yankees out.

View full article

[moonslav59]

I think this might be the year, the Yanks finish below .500.

They are old and hobbled.

Goldschmidt is 37, LeMahieu 36, Stanton 35 and Judge 33. These are not their bench guys, like Ref is for us. Stanton has two injuries, already.

Carrasco is 38. Cole is 34 and out for the year. Stroman is 34, and they could not dump him off on anyone. Gil is out for most or all of '25. Fried and Rodon are 31 and 32.

I'm thinking they may have more injuries, as the year goes on.

[Bellhorn04]

I choose to not take them lightly.  They always seem to find a way to win games.

Boone takes a lot of heat for odd in-game decisions but he seems to be a good clubhouse manager. 

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I choose to not take them lightly.  They always seem to find a way to win games.

Boone takes a lot of heat for odd in-game decisions but he seems to be a good clubhouse manager. 

Boone is the best thing to happen to the Sox since, well... Cashman.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Boone is the best thing to happen to the Sox since, well... Cashman.

Possibly.  But Cashman and Boone won 38 games more than Bloom/Breslow and Cora in 2022-2024, an average of about 13 a year.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I think this might be the year, the Yanks finish below .500.

Judge would have to miss half the season for this to happen. Even if Max Fried goes down with elbow tightness, I think they stay just above .500. 

[moonslav59]

58 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Possibly.  But Cashman and Boone won 38 games more than Bloom/Breslow and Cora in 2022-2024, an average of about 13 a year.

Apples to oranges.

I'm thrilled the Yankees' management has not changed.

[Bellhorn04]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Apples to oranges.

I'm thrilled the Yankees' management has not changed.

How the heck is it apples to oranges?  Because the Sox were rebuilding/punting?

[moonslav59]

27 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

How the heck is it apples to oranges?  Because the Sox were rebuilding/punting?

Of course that matters. Spending matters.

Both management teams had different tasks given to them. One could argue Bloom and Brez rebuilt a formidable team going forward- the task given to them. One could argue Boone and cashman failed at the task given to them- win a WS or get there often.

I'm glad they kept both of these guys and expect the same results.

[Bellhorn04]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Of course that matters. Spending matters.

Both management teams had different tasks given to them. One could argue Bloom and Brez rebuilt a formidable team going forward- the task given to them. One could argue Boone and cashman failed at the task given to them- win a WS or get there often.

One could also argue the Red Sox were a total and inexcusable flop all 3 seasons.  It's pretty hard to dress up an average of 79 wins.   All depends on your perspective, and your biases.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

One could also argue the Red Sox were a total and inexcusable flop all 3 seasons.  It's pretty hard to dress up an average of 79 wins.   All depends on your perspective, and your biases.

Not once did Sox FO come out and say "we're in rebuilding mode." Every year they said the expectations were to be competitive and get into the playoffs. 

[Bellhorn04]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not once did Sox FO come out and say "we're in rebuilding mode." Every year they said the expectations were to be competitive and get into the playoffs. 

Exactly.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not once did Sox FO come out and say "we're in rebuilding mode." Every year they said the expectations were to be competitive and get into the playoffs. 

To be honest, they were lying.

Honestly, they lied.

I'm not gonna lie, but they did.

To tell you the truth, they can't.

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

One could also argue the Red Sox were a total and inexcusable flop all 3 seasons.  It's pretty hard to dress up an average of 79 wins.   All depends on your perspective, and your biases.

I would totally agree. We sucked. 

I do think the two management teams had two very different plans given to them, thus...

"Apples to Oranges."

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

To be honest, they were lying.

Honestly, they lied.

I'm not gonna lie, but they did.

To tell you the truth, they can't.

If they were lying and they really were rebuilding, why didn't they sell at the deadline in '22 when they had the chance? They didn't really sell off at the deadline in '23 either.

[dgalehouse]

The Yankees have had a lot of success, so I can't knock Cashman and Boone too much. It's all about winning and they have won consistently. I do think they are in trouble this season. Losing Soto is a major blow. Cole, Gil and Stanton out for all or much of the year. That is a lot to overcome. I think the Sox are the better team at this point. 

[mvp 78]

This thread would be much more exciting if our prominent Yankees supporters hadn't disappeared from the board.

[Bellhorn04]

32 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I would totally agree. We sucked. 

I do think the two management teams had two very different plans given to them, thus...

"Apples to Oranges."

If Bloom was successful with his plan, the Sox had a funny way of showing it.

[Bellhorn04]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

This thread would be much more exciting if our prominent Yankees supporters hadn't disappeared from the board.

I'm expecting a Splintered Splendor appearance at some point.  

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm expecting a Splintered Splendor appearance at some point.  

On a side note, if the Sox are indeed better this year, it'll be interesting what old friends start showing up again. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If they were lying and they really were rebuilding, why didn't they sell at the deadline in '22 when they had the chance? They didn't really sell off at the deadline in '23 either.

They had to try and sell the idea it was not a rebuild.

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

If Bloom was successful with his plan, the Sox had a funny way of showing it.

I did not say he was successful. I said Bloom & Brez MAY have done a better job than Boone and cashman's who had the job of winning a ring, which they failed to do and are still around, unlike Bloom.

[moonslav59]

40 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

This thread would be much more exciting if our prominent Yankees supporters hadn't disappeared from the board.

He knows I'm right and is in hiding.

Jacko used to bash Boone and Cashman, a lot, in between supporting them and their long record of .500+ seasons.

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

They had to try and sell the idea it was not a rebuild.

Doing that on July 31st is TOO LATE! 

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He knows I'm right and is in hiding.

Jacko used to bash Boone and Cashman, a lot, in between supporting them and their long record of .500+ seasons.

Jacko hasn't logged in since August. 

[Bellhorn04]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I did not say he was successful. I said Bloom & Brez MAY have done a better job than Boone and cashman's who had the job of winning a ring, which they failed to do and are still around, unlike Bloom.

What if Cashman's "real job" is to keep fielding competitive teams every year and to keep making money for Hal?  Yanks are still crushing the field in revenue and market value.

That would explain why he's still around.  

If Hal really thought the main goal was winning rings, Cashman would be long gone after only winning one since 2000.

[Jasonbay44]

I never count out those *******s in New York till I heard they’ve been eliminated from the playoffs. 

[Bellhorn04]

Just now, Jasonbay44 said:

I never count out those *******s in New York till I heard they’ve been eliminated from the playoffs. 

Those are words to live by.

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Doing that on July 31st is TOO LATE! 

He wasn't very good at that, either.

[moonslav59]

14 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

What if Cashman's "real job" is to keep fielding competitive teams every year and to keep making money for Hal?  Yanks are still crushing the field in revenue and market value.

Good point. They have perfected what Bloom could not do. Just keep having a winning records.

Bloom had one, but I'm not totally convinced management was fully behind building winning teams, or at least not to the extent the Yankees were, especially with spending.