New York Yankees: What if Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso swapped teams

Where would the Polar Bear hit in the Yankees lineup?

The New York Yankees already have an extremely deep lineup without Alonso and Judge, for that matter. Bombers faithful saw this first-hand last season when the team had 30 different players land on the injured list.

So in this “What If” version here is my 2020 Yankees lineup:

1. DJ LeMahieu – 2B
2. Alonso – 1B
3. Gleyber Torres – SS
4. Stanton – RF
5. Gary Sanchez – C
6. Miguel Andujar – DH
7. Hicks – CF
8. Gio Urshela – 3B
9. Gardner – LF

Since Tauchman’s not in the Bronx and Stanton’s in right field, that makes Andujar the DH for most of the 2020 season while also playing third base now and then.

There aren’t any drastic lineup changes in Judge’s absence. Having Alonso helps open up a spot for Andujar to have a significant roll on the team. Having Judge in the lineup (and Stanton as the full-time DH) gives Andujar a minor role since Urshela is the better glove at third.

Would Alonso change the fate of the 2019 Yanks?

There’s no telling how the series with Houston would’ve played out in this “What If” situation. But regardless, the Astros are still cheaters, and I genuinely believe despite the commissioner’s report that Houston did cheat during the 2017-19 seasons.

So in this “What If” fantasy, Houston would still end up beating the Yankees in the ALCS due to their “sign stealing.” If I’m honest, the Yankees didn’t lose to the Astros due to their pitching. It was mainly their offense that blew it. No one hit in that series, so having Alonso instead of Judge wouldn’t have changed the outcome all that much.

Nonetheless, in case you’re wondering, the Yankees still do go out and acquire Gerrit Cole.