New York Yankees: Predicting the Opening Day Roster

We are just about two weeks from Opening Day and it’s time to predict the final roster for the New York Yankees.

The New York Yankees fell one game short of reaching the World Series in 2017 but they did anything but stand pat this offseason.

The first and biggest move the Yankees made was acquiring reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton. By pairing up the only players in the MLB who hit 50+ home runs last season (Stanton and Aaron Judge), the Yankees became instant World Series contenders. Expectations were sky high and Brian Cashman had to fine tune the rest of the roster.

Traditionally, the Yankees would throw money at any problem they had, acquiring the most expensive players on long-term contracts, not worry at all about how high their payroll was. But these aren’t your father’s New York Yankees. Heck, these aren’t even your older brother’s New York Yankees. Cashman was tasked with improving this team while staying under the $197 million luxury tax threshold.

These financial restrictions prevented Cashman from signing a top starting pitcher such as Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta, but he was able to add talented players on team-friendly contracts such as Brandon Drury and Neil Walker.

The New York Yankees have one of the best rosters in baseball and are legitimate World Series contenders. They also have a deep farm system that will allow them to make improvements at the trade deadline this summer.

For now, though, they are likely done making moves before Opening Day. But what will their Opening Day roster look like? They currently have 45 players on their roster and have two weeks to get it down to 25.

Here are our predictions for how the New York Yankees 25-man roster will shake out for Opening Day on March 29: