Yankees Postseason Roster - Who’s In and Whose Out?

By Cary Greene

September 19, 2024

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Well, well - here we are Yankees fans.

Our Yankees made the playoffs. With visions of a ticker tape parade in midtown Manhattan dancing in my daydreams, I can but barely contain myself these days. It seems I attempt to talk about baseball with anyone who comes within ten feet of me these days. Unfortunately, most of my work friends are Braves fans, so I’m reaching out to you today - the SSTN faithful. Let’s talk about Yankees baseball!

Since our beloved Yankees made the postseason - and perhaps will receive a first round bye in the playoffs, I’d like to pose a very important question to each of you. If you were the Yankees GM, which players should make the postseason roster and which ones should be left off?

Let’s preface today’s intrigue with some facts that each of you prospective Yankees GM’s should consider prior to constructing your rosters. We’ll consider the Yankees recent postseason history, we’ll discuss how the importance of hitting and pitching splits is magnified in the postseason where every single game matters vastly more than in the regular season and we’ll also need to contemplate how each player that we include on our rosters will perform against the elevated competition that awaits the Bronx Bombers in this year’s postseason.

Cashman’s Recent Postseason Rosters

Has Brian Cashman been adept at creating postseason rosters in recent history? Should he have constructed his rosters any differently than he did? Ultimately, the buck stops with Brian Cashman and he alone must own the Yankees current championship drought. The rosters he’s put together have failed to bring home a World Series title and this fact cannot be underscored enough at this time as here we are, a mere stone’s throw from the 2024 playoffs river. I harken back to my youth when my friends and I would stand on the bank of a large river and we’d select flat stones and try to skip them across the river. The first to reach the other side was the winner and to be successful, selecting the right stone was paramount but of course, the stone also had to be thrown properly. We can surmise that Yankees skipper Aaron Boone has yet to throw a playoff stone across the river. Have the Yankees failed to win solely because of him, or is Brain Cashman to blame because he’s failed to pick Boone the right stones to throw?

Since the Yankees didn’t qualify for the playoffs last season, we have to look back to the 2022 postseason in which the Yankees squeaked past the Cleveland Guardians before being swept four games to nil by the hated Houston Astros. In the Houston series, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torrres, Josh Donaldson, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Trevino, Matt Carpenter, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, Kyle Higashioka, Oswald Peraza and Miguel Castro batted a combined .104 which obviously didn’t get it done. Aside from Harrison Bader’s 6-15, 2HR performance and Giancarlo Stanton going 4-16, the Astros pitching absolutely dominated the Yankees lineup.

Did Brian Cashman have other stones in the organization that he could have given Boone to skip that might have made a difference against the stifling Astros pitching staff in ‘23? Could Aaron Boone have chosen to throw stones other than the washed up Donaldson and Carpenter and would that have made any difference? In any case, the Yankees playoff roster was certainly a bit questionable to say the least and that perhaps coupled with the decisions to give so many at-bats to sagging veteran players as were doled out. It all added up to another season slipping away without a championship.

In the 2022-23 offseason, Brian Cashman played the usual “injury excuse” card at the poker table with the New York media and it left most pinstriped fans in an uproar as they were beyond frustrated with the party line that in several seasons past has tended to use the same excuse.

Looking back to the 2021-22 postseason, in which the Yankees were eliminated by the Boston Red Sox in a winner take all one-game series, Cashman’s roster construction again failed to deliver. The Yankees chose to start Kyle Higashioka in the crucial game, allowing him to serve as Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher while starting Andrew Velasquez at shortstop and Brett Gardner in center field. Rougned Odor and Gary Sanchez both came off the bench in the loss and Joey Gallo, Gleyber Torres, Brett Garnder, Higashioka, Sanchez, Velasquez and Odor went a combined 0 for 17. Were the right buttons pushed by Boone in the game and did he have the best possible roster to work with?

The Importance of Splits in the Postseason

Every postseason, World Series champions win with a combination of timely hitting and pitching that rises to challenge. Managers make out their lineup cards and they balance or sometimes stack their lineups based on handedness and ultimately - splits. Then, as the games begin, a team’s bench and bullpen combine to deliver results that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. I’m convinced the average fan misses how important this strategic dance that unfolds during a postseason game truly is.

This year, most postseason contenders are flawed and they all have their unique (and exploitable) weaknesses. Presently, the Yankees have the fourth best offense in baseball, with a 114 OPS+ as a team. Very little separates the Bombers from the Diamondbacks 114 (but more runs scored - 826 to 758), the Orioles (115) and the Dodgers (117). Since the inception of World Series play, World Series winners have averaged a 104.2 OPS+, so if the Yankees can manage to get men on base and score them, their offense is every bit good enough to win it all.

Will the Yankees offense rise to the occasion and perform against elite postseason pitching? Can the Yankees play the lefty-righty matchups well enough to succeed? Will the Yankees be able to overcome their greatest offensive weakness this postseason? 151 games into the season, the Yankees have proven that as a team, that they struggle badly against left-handed pitching. If I’m an opposing GM and building my roster for a series with the Yankees, I’ll probably stack my bullpen with two or three extra lefties and I’ll also probably deploy as many left-handed starters as I have to muster.

What will Brian Cashman do to counter this inevitability or will he roll with what he has and blindly sail into yet another post season?

The Yankees have four current players who can hit left-handed pitching well and make no mistake, this is a massive roster construction flaw. Aaron Judge (1.253 OPS), Juan Soto (.964), Jazz Chisholm (.833) and Gleyber Torres (.787) are the only Yankees worth a bean against lefties. Giancarlo Stanton (.647), Anthony Volpe (.633), Jose Trevino (.625), Alex Verdugo (.598), Austin Wells (.524), Trent Grisham (.507), Anthony Rizzo (.492), Oswaldo Cabrera (.481), Jon Berti (.461) are all varying degrees of super vulnerable and I’m leaving Jasson Dominguez off my list due to sample size, but he may help actually.

If the Yankees roll primarily with most of these players, it seems like a lock that they will fail to win a World Series. The first smart GM/Manager combination they run into will likely shut down the Yankees lineup, unless Judge and Stanton put up massive numbers throughout the playoffs. The easy recipe to beat the Yankees will be to use lots of lefties and also opponents will try to pitch around Judge and Soto wherever possible. It’s very likely that a key hit here and there might make all the difference for the Yankees. If Judge and Soto will be on base a lot, someone is going to need to advance them home.

Against right-handed pitching, the Yankees are a much more dangerous offense. Judge (1.113 OPS), Soto (1.107), Chisholm (.871), Stanton (.823), Wells (.810), Cabrera (.735) and Berti (.728) all should be in the lineup. Players that don’t hit righties well are Grisham (.707), Trevino (.682), Verdugo (.679), Torres (.676), Volpe (.675), Rizzo (.648).

Splits reveal that Grisham, Trevino, Verdugo and Rizzo are all players that likely won’t help the Yankees much in the postseason against light’s out pitching. Though all four of these players are fairly big names, it might make more sense for Cashman to scour the Scranton roster in search of late season help. It’s very late in the season to promote a rookie but I’m not sure the Yankees would risk losing all that much offense if they did. Most of the Scranton regulars have been getting tons of reps and they’re going to be game ready seeing as how their postseason will have concluded prior to the Yankees postseason.

For example, T.J. Rumfield (.844 OPS vs LHP / .812 vs RHP) has a solid approach at the plate and he has played a big role for the RailRiders down the stretch so he might be a valuable bench piece at first base or DH. From there it’s pick your poison between possibly Ben Rice and Rumfield vs righties. I see Anthony Rizzo (a player I really like as a fan) as being expendable with players like Rumfield and Rice around. Rizzo does have some postseason experience, but I think a dice roll could be in order at first base. Which first basemen should the Yankees carry?

Carlos Navarez (.881 OPS vs LHP) might be a better choice to back up Austin Wells at catcher than Jose Trevino is and he could be useful late in games against tough lefties or even as a spot starter against lefties who Wells would pinch hit for against right handed relievers. Navarez could also pinch hit late in games if Wells is up against a tough lefty, so adding Navarez to the roster could give Boone some needed bench strength. Could Navarez be more valuable to the Yankees postseason roster than Trevino?

Jose Rojas (.955 OPS vs LHP) might be a platoon DH that could help the Yankees offset Stanton’s vulnerability to righties.  Likewise, Oswald Peraza (.788 OPS vs LHP) could be used to platoon with Volpe and also serve as speed off the bench and as a late game defensive specialist at shortstop or third base, should the Yankees find themselves with a lead they want to protect. Is there a spot for either of these players on the roster?

Another player who could probably help the Yankees in the postseason is Caleb Durbin (.720 OPS vs LHP / .922 vs RHP) as he could not only be a lethal weapon type speed option off the bench but in games where the Yankees face a tough lefty, the Yankees might want to reserve Stanton as a pinch-hitter and they could then play Torres at DH and insert Durbin as a leadoff hitter and at second base. A small move like this might pay huge dividends for the Yankees in the playoffs.

Allow me then to pose a tough question to our readers today. Should the Yankees consider not carrying Grisham, Trevino, Verdugo and/or Rizzo? Could any of the Yankees current Minor Leaguers provide more than a player whose roster spot they would be taking? If you were the Yankees GM, what would your roster look like?