My 25 man roster for 2018

Well folks it’s that time of year again.  The World Series has come and gone. The cold air has set in, and hunters got their orange on.  The turkey, ham and all the trimmings are on the way.  And now…  it’s Free Agent Time!!

This off season the Yankees will see a new manager take the helm.  Now let’s be greedy and break down the 25 men I would like to supply him with and how I think we could get them here if they’re not already here.  I’m not going too crazy and will try to stay realistic.  I have the luxury tax goal in mind here, however I won’t get into numbers during this post. 

We will start with the rotation.  Back after a good year is Severino.  Tanaka is still around after not using his opt. out, and with the addition of Grey, I only have two changes.  I feel both greatly improve the starting rotation and here they are…  

1. Luis Severino
2. Sonny Grey 
3. Masahiro Tanaka
4. Shohei Ohtani:  Sign him!!!  I don’t care what the rules are regarding his signing, I would go all out and do whatever it takes to bring this man to the Bronx 
5. Jordan Montgomery*** If Adams is ready, then Jordan becomes my lefty out of the pen.  He can also be used as a 6th starter, however I see Justus Sheffield banging on the door and may just fill this roll at some point anyway.  Non-the less, Jordan is on the roster. 
6. Chance Adams:  Simply call this kid up, he is ready for the big club.  He will be a solid back end starter if not more.

Now on to the bullpen… 

     Closer:  Aroldis Chapman

     Set up:  David Robertson

     7th:  Dellin Betances

The other guys in the pen would be Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, Adam Warren, and if all goes right, Jordan Montgomery*.  There are no real changes here.  Tommy may over take Dellin, but spring training is still a few months away.  No, I’m not trading Dellin now.  We keep him, rebuild his value, and then maybe I consider a trade.  However, I do feel the pen is as dominant as one can ask, don’t change it.  

Here is the starting and defensive line-up.  This is where I’ll get a little crazy…

1. Bret Gardner LF/CF:  Like it or not, he is a Yankee and at this point I don’t see him being traded. 
2. Gray Sanchez C:  I know, I know what about Judge?
3. Aaron Judge RF:  After my big trade, Judge slides to 3.  Look who is his new-found protection.
4. Giancarlo Stanton DH/OF:  Of course you got to give to get here so I’ll send Aaron Hicks, Chase Headly, Albert Abreau, sadly Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade and a lesser prospect to the marlins.  May have to sub out Tyler or Albert for other prospects but we can make it happen.
5. Greg Bird 1B:  Got to split up all the righties, and the Birdman has the pop to protect Stanton.
6. Clint Frazier CF/LF:  Staying lefty righty here.
7. Didi Gregorius SS:  This goes to say how deep this line up now is with Stanton.  Didi in the 7 hole?  Sign me up!
8. Gleyber Torres 2B/3B:  Like Chance Adams, the time is now, he will be ready to go for spring training.  He was tearing the Cover off the ball at every level.  The AFL MVP from last year makes his way onto this team.
9. Todd Frazier 3B:  A New Yorker in our hearts even though he’s from New Jersey.  A life-long Yankee fan who wants to be here.  He’s better then Starlin and Headly.  I say, bring back the Toddfather!!!

The bench grabs the last 4 roster spots.  Let’s Keep it easy to start, Austin Romine grabs the 1^st bench spot as the back-up catcher.  He’s good with the pitchers we have, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it!  Yes, his offense could be better, but we are taking about a back-up, let’s just stick with him.

Next up is the 23^rd spot on team.  That goes to Starlin Castro.  I keep Starlin around because he can play 2B, SS and in a pinch 3B.  He can still hit the ball, gives you the ability to have a starting caliber player on the bench and can play a few times a week without hurting the lineup.

Spot 24 goes to Ronald Torreyes.  In my opinion, Toe gives the most effort of anyone on the team and does whatever is asked of him.  He has also come through in big spots when asked too.

The final bench spot is for the 4^th OF.  Now being I traded Hicks in the Stanton deal, I’ll keep it simple and go with a competition here.  Jake Cave and Billy McKinney both have a lot of up-side and offer a spark of the bench. 

I do understand my trade for Stanton may take more than mentioned but as long as it doesn’t take away anyone else on my 25-man roster, let’s get this deal done Cashman!!! As for the not mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury, ship him to any team.  All I ask for is a bag of balls, we can even pay down some of the contract.  He must go!!

As always, thank you for reading and have a great day!  May you all be blessed.  Feel free to drop me an email and let’s chat.

Fun Time: I want to hear from you!! Please send me your 25 man roster and how you get the Yankees! I will post the winning roster and analyze it. Winner will also receive a free Yankee T-Shirt. The one Rule is the roster needs to be somewhat realistic. We won't have 25 All-Stars. 

James C Palma 

The Greedy Pinstripes 

JamesCPalma@gmail.com