Sorting out the Yankee situation right now is a bit of a muddle. It does not look like the front office will be adding any more contracts at this point, so I think what we see is what we will get. Only three real questions remain, so let’s take a quick look at those.

  • Fifth Starter. Conventional Wisdom says that Carlos Carrasco is the winner here. Wil Warren looked good yesterday against the Rays, but he has so many options left that it makes more sense to get the most out of Carrasco while he’s healthy. Warren should be first man up when the next pitcher goes down. Clarke Schmidt still has a balky back, and Carrasco’s numbers indicate he won’t last the entire season. In a normal world, Warren would get the nod, but given how roster construction works these days, Carrasco is likely to be in the rotation for the start of the season. He’ll probably get until Memorial Day to show what he can do, and then other decisions may have to be made.

  • Third Base. It does not appear that Jazz Chisolm will be moved off 2B, and the way he and Volpe have become “best buds” seems to indicate the Yankees are looking to cement that DP combination. Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, and DJ Le Mahieu are the leading candidates, but with DJ out, right now the race is down to the two Big Os. Everyone really, really wants Cabrera to hit better and break out and make the decision easy, but he truly hasn’t done that yet. Peraza almost took the SS job away from Volpe two years ago, but since then has not show the same bat he did in 2023 camp. I actually think the wild card here is Jorbit Vivas, who has had a pretty good spring. I think Cabrera makes the roster as a super-utility player, but Vivas might be the best option at third for the time being. It doesn’t hurt the Yankees much at all if they send Peraza down and keep Vivas up and see what happens.

  • DH. No Stanton again, and now that he also has calf issues, I really have no idea what the Yankees will do with him. Personally, I think Big G should just get the elbow surgery and be done with it and see what happens after that. He’s not getting any younger, and the longer he puts it off the older he gets. There are so many options here, but for me, Ben Rice probably makes the most sense at the moment. RH bat, 1B, a third catcher on the roster = lots of flexibility on the roster. Dominic Smith is LH. Other options just feel less flexible. Trent Grisham is also LH, but I think he’s slotted for the 4th OF position. Rice is a gamble, as he flashed hot and then cooled off considerably. He will not be another Stanton, but then again nobody will. There’s enough potential pop there to justify the move.

Like all else in baseball, in the end it’s execution that matters. You can strategize all you want, but in the end it comes down to execution. There is a lot of speculation in these three decisions, but for the Yankees, at this point they have a roster that is riddled up and down with speculation. Adding these to the mix will hardly make a difference between now and June.