New York Yankees: Projecting the 30-man roster for the 2020 regular season

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It is official; baseball is back! The New York Yankees are preparing for spring training 2.0 starting next week, with an expected Opening Day in late July. Working out the active roster will be an interesting process for the Bombers, who can now add four extra players to the 26-man roster that has been expanded to 30.

The extra four players will be young but productive in the Minor League systems.

Let’s take a look at the guaranteed players who will feature as starters and depth for the New York Yankees:

Regular Lineup

Gary Sanchez - C
Luke Voit - 1B
DJ LeMahieu - 2B
Gleyber Torres - SS
Gio Urshela - 3B
Brett Gardner - LF
Aaron Hicks - CF
Aaron Judge - RF
Giancarlo Stanton - DH

Starting Rotation

Gerrit Cole - RHP
James Paxton - LHP
Masahiro Tanaka - RHP
J.A. Happ - LHP
Jordan Montgomery - LHP

The bullpen is where some extra names will begin to pop up. Of course, the guarantees include Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, and Jonathan Holder will feature as everyday players. The final four names are more unpredictable, but we can expect Luis Cessa and Jonathan Loaisiga to both be active for the Yankees during the 60 game season set forth by team owners and the Players Association.

The two final names I believe will make it to the bullpen are Deivi Garcia and Ben Heller, to quality young arms who can produce if called upon.

Bullpen

Aroldis Chapman - LHP
Zack Britton - LHP
Adam Ottavino - RHP
Chad Green - RHP
Tommy Kahnle - RHP
Jonathan Holder - RHP
Luis Cessa - RHP
Jonathan Loaisiga - RHP
Deivi Garcia - RHP
Ben Heller - RHP

Bench

Mike Ford –1B/OF
Clint Frazier – OF
Mike Tauchman – OF
Tyler Wade – UTIL
Kyle Higashioka – C
Miguel Andujar – UTIL

On the bench, I believe Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade will be included. Frazier was scheduled to start the season in the outfield, but the delay due to the coronavirus pandemic allowed Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton to return to full health.

However, it is best to be safe as they are all returning from injury, and Frazier has the ability to start immediately. Then there is Tyler Wade, who is a utility player that can move around the infield and play outfield if need be. While he isn’t the most consistent hitter, he is extremely fast on the bases and has stable defensive traits.

Overall, the Yankees have one of the best active rosters in the league, and adding four more players will only help them dominate in a 60 game regular season.

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