Here the Yankees are again, about to start a season that must only end one way, lest they let tradition down again.
Here they are, returning nearly every key piece from the 2025 offensive juggernaut that tied for most wins in the American League, wondering if they will regret not changing something. Here they are, as in so many years before, wondering what magic touch will finally turn a very good season into good enough.
Their full 26-man roster is not fully set yet, but the parts that are do look familiar. At least 21 of the 26 players set to make the Opening Day roster were also in the organization at the end of last season. Depending on how they decide to structure their bullpen between now and their opener Wednesday night, that number could go as high as 24.
To the extent that any unit has been overhauled, that bullpen comes closest to qualifying. Both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver signed with the Mets, leaving vacancies at the back end.
But David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, and Fernando Cruz will return to late-inning duties. Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough, also returners, will be the swing men. Brent Headrick, the lefty acquired from Minnesota midway through last season, remains with the major league team and therefore seems to be a finalist for one of the bullpen jobs remaining. So is righty Jake Bird, who struggled after the Yanks plucked him from Colorado at least year’s trade deadline, but has yet to be jettisoned from the MLB spring training roster.
The only potential outside addition to the Opening Day bullpen, therefore, would be Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest – New York’s first such pick in 15 years – who must make the active roster or be returned to the St. Louis Cardinals. Manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week that he has "shown enough to keep himself in the mix and warrant us taking him."
If they do, and they carry Bird and Headrick with him, they will need room for nine relievers – more than a five-man rotation normally allows when teams carry the usual 13 pitchers. But the Yankees will not be using a five-man rotation to start the season, Boone told reporters Sunday. Their schedule is such that they do not need a fifth starter for the first few weeks of the season, so the man projected to be that fifth starter – recent Rookie of the Year Luis Gil – is now in limbo.
Boone said Sunday that the Yankees have not yet decided what to do with Gil. They could use him in a piggyback role with another starter. They could also option him to the minors. Sending Gil to Triple-A could make sense on multiple levels: he could use a low-stakes start or two to ensure the adjustments that served him so well in his last outing can stick. And his spot on the active roster could allow the Yankees to keep all four relievers vying for the final three bullpen spots, allowing them to evaluate them against regular season competition before making any decisions.
That Gil is the odd man out means the Yankees are making room for one of their only big league newcomers, 26-year-old lefty Ryan Weathers. They acquired Weathers from the Marlins in a trade that brought them a high-end talent that multiple organizations have failed to turn into a consistent high-end performer. But Weathers’ stuff is explosive, and despite some rough spring training line scores, the Yankees will give him a chance to make that leap.
Otherwise, the rotation will be totally familiar – but this year, it should get deeper as the year goes on. Gerrit Cole remains on track for a June 1 return, and he will start Tuesday’s spring training finale against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa. Weathers will throw the bulk of the Yankees’ innings in that game, meaning that, for what it's worth, weeks before Cole’s return, Weathers is the one currently taking his turns.
Carlos Rodon entered this spring expected back from his offseason surgery before Cole, and neither he nor the Yankees have suggested anything happened in the last few weeks to alter that timeline. He has thrown multiple sessions of live batting practice, and he will stay in Tampa to continue throwing while the Yankees open their season on the West Coast. Max Fried will serve as the lone ace in the meantime, anchoring a rotation that will also include Weathers, postseason breakout Cam Schlittler, and steady Will Warren.
"The depth that we have pitching, I don’t think we have had that in quite a long time," Aaron Judge said. "If you count the guys that are injured and coming back: Rodon, [Clarke] Schmidt, and Cole. You add those guys, we’re 11, 12 starting pitchers deep. So that’ll be nice."
Also nice, as running things back go, is that three-time MVP Judge will once again be anchoring a familiar outfield so productive that if those in it hit like they did in 2025, "running it back" will leave the Yankees with three of the top 12 outfielders by weighted runs created plus.
One could envision a world in which their lineup gets even better than the one that led the majors in scoring last year. For example, imagine if Giancarlo Stanton could contribute at last year’s .944 OPS pace over more games than the 77 he was healthy enough for last year. Had he had enough at-bats to qualify, that OPS would have made Stanton fifth-best in baseball, trailing only Judge, Shohei Ohtani, George Springer, and Cal Raleigh.
Obviously, a new year also means the Yankees could find themselves with an even less healthy Stanton. They could also find themselves with a healthy, but less productive version of the 36-year-old slugger -- though his four homers and several near-misses in 26 spring training at-bats suggest he is at least entering the season in top form.
Center fielder Trent Grisham does not have the track record of year-over-year production to make a repeat of his 2025 breakout feel like a sure thing. But if for some reason his production dips too far, Jasson Dominguez will be a short drive away in Scranton ready to prove his standout spring training deserved a big league roster spot. And if injuries test their depth, Spencer Jones will be towering behind him, politely waiting his turn.
The only newcomer offensively is Randal Grichuk, the veteran outfielder the Yankees signed in late February as a right-handed platoon option who can spell starters in the corner outfield spots and owns an .819 career OPS against lefties. He will join Amed Rosario, who proved a trustworthy at-bat as a utilityman down the stretch, on the bench with fellow returners Paul Goldschmidt and J.C. Escarra. Goldschmidt will spell Ben Rice, though how much will likely depend on Rice’s production. Like catcher Austin Wells, Rice is still new enough to regular big league duty that he does not qualify as a lock for the same level of production that he provided last year.
Still, either could be even better this year. Perhaps when Anthony Volpe returns from shoulder surgery around May, he will produce better than he did last year, too. Familiarity can occasionally lead to evolution. If it doesn’t, they will have options at the trade deadline.
And of course, things can change quickly in the final days and hours before Opening Day rosters are due. For example, a few innings into their Grapefruit League finale, the Yankees announced they had traded Jorbit Vivas to the Washington Nationals for minor league pitcher Sean Paul Liñan. Vivas was acquired in the deal that sent Trey Sweeney to the Dodgers. The move clears a spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster. As of late Sunday night, it was not clear how they plan to use it.
