The New York Yankees used to be juggernauts. They used to at least make World Series appearances. It’s been 14 seasons since the Bronx Bombers won a title, and in that span they’ve missed the postseason four times, including last year. Coming off of an 82-80 season, the Yankees have had an eventful offseason that should see them back in the postseason picture, but there are still questions about this roster.
Last season’s injuries really crippled the club. Last winter’s big addition, Carlos Rodón, didn’t debut until July, and when he was finally on the bump, he pitched to a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts. Nestor Cortes missed a couple of months in the middle of the season, made one appearance in August, then was out the rest of the year with a rotator cuff strain. He too was ineffective when healthy.
The Yankees spent a lot of the offseason trading away pitchers while bringing new ones in. Following New York this season is going to be fascinating, because they could be a completely re-tooled club that is ready to contend, or they could end up missing some of the depth that they spent the winter trading away.
Let’s take a look at some of the additions and subtractions the club has made, preview their 2024 campaign, and give you one player to keep an eye on for the upcoming season.
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Yankees additions and subtractions
This winter has been fairly slow-moving on the transaction wire, with few big moves being made. The Yankees made one of those big moves, acquiring Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres for Kyle Higashioka and a slew of pitchers. One of the players headed back to the Padres, Michael King, had the second-most fWAR of any pitcher on the team last year at 2.2 wins, second only to Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. They also included Jhonny Brito (4.28 ERA in 90 1/3 innings) and Randy Vásquez (2.87 ERA in 37 2/3) in the deal, giving up well over 200 effective innings from last year’s roster. On the other hand, they landed Soto and an underrated Trent Grisham.
Grisham is projected to be the second-best newcomer to the Yankee roster behind Soto. ZiPS is projecting him for a 2.8-win season in 2024. He plays solid defense, and his lefty bat should be able to sneak a few extra homers down the right field line.
The other big addition that New York made was bringing in Marcus Stroman on a two-year, $37 million deal. He put up a 3.95 ERA last season with the Chicago Cubs, but he had a tremendous first half of the season, where he held a 2.96 ERA heading into the break. He was also named an All-Star for the second time in his career. In August, he missed some time with right hip inflammation and totaled just eight innings in September as the Cubs missed the postseason.
Overall, the Yankees have made some solid veteran additions. In terms of WAR that they let go via trade or free agency compared to the projected WAR they’ve added, Brian Cashman has had a huge offseason. The Yankees lost 5.2 wins, but picked up 14 with their new additions for a difference of 8.8 WAR added. Of the team previews that have been compiled so far, only the Mets have a higher total with nine wins added to their roster.
New York Yankees 2024 season outlook
There is a lot of talk about how Soto and Aaron Judge will be used to protect each other in the lineup, and a lot of debate over who should bat first. To make it simple, have the guy with the best eye in the game and a projected OBP above .400 go up first, then let Judge drive him home. It’s not rocket science.
The more interesting combo in the lineup could end up being where new addition Alex Verdugo and masher Giancarlo Stanton end up hitting. Roster Resource has Stanton batting seventh with Verdugo ahead of him. If those two can get going in 2024, then the Yankees offense may just run through the American League.
The big question will be on the pitching side. After rough seasons for Rondón and Cortes, and Stroman’s inflammation, how will they look in 2024? If they miss some time, how will their replacements fare? The answer to those questions may answer the question of just how good the Yankees will be this season. Then there’s the fact that the team’s ace, Gerrit Cole, is a huge question mark for the 2024 campaign. As things stand, he’s going to miss some time at the beginning of the season, with a potential return in late May or early June.
If Cortes, Rondón, and Stroman all pitch as expected in Cole’s absence, the Yankees will be fine. If more injuries crop up or they’re ineffective, then the team could be in trouble.
The projections over at Baseball Prospectus have the Yankees pegged for a 92-win season, five games clear of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays, who are huddled together with the Tampa Bay Rays (87 wins) and Baltimore Orioles (87). FanGraphs projects them as an 88-win club, with the Rays right behind them at 86 wins. The Yankees have a solid bullpen and potentially a dynamite offense, but their success this season will hinge on the starting rotation and staying healthy.
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Yankees player to watch in 2024
Anthony Volpe had a 20/20 season in his rookie campaign after bashing 21 homers and swiping 24 bags, but there is plenty of room for growth in his sophomore campaign. The 22-year-old hit just .209 with a .283 OBP and an 84 wRC+, but FanGraphs also thought highly of him in the field, giving him a 6.2 defensive rating while he was one out above average at Baseball Savant.
The projections over at FanGraphs are saying that he’ll be a league-average bat in his second season and have his second straight 20/20 campaign with a little more batted-ball luck and a few fewer strikeouts. Last year, he struck out 27.8% of the time, and this year, he’s projected for 24.1%. That’s still a little higher than league average (22.1%), but it’s trending in the right direction. In July and August he was striking out less often (25.8% and 22.5%) than he had in his first two months before, but ended the year K’ing in a little over 29% of his plate appearances.
Volpe was also a little unlucky with his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) last season, coming in at .259. League average there was nearly 40 points higher at .297. His exit velocity was right about league average. Same with his launch angle of 14.2. His expected batting average was also .230, which is in line with his projection for the upcoming season.
In the middle of Volpe’s “chicken parm” hot streak, Aaron Boone told reporters with a smile, “He’s gonna be really good.” In 2024, we may just see more of a glimpse of some of that potential.
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