2020 record - 33-27, 2nd place in AL East
Key Addition - DJ LeMahieu
While not strictly a new addition - LeMahieu re-signed with the Yankees on a 6 year $90m contract this winter - losing LeMahieu to another team as a free agent would have been a big blow for the Yankees.
Instead, they locked him up at 2B for the long term which will be a big boost for them. Since moving to New York in 2019, LeMahieu has been outstanding. He has finished in the top 4 in MVP voting both years in New York and led all of MLB with his .364 batting average last year.
We expect LeMahieu to again challenge for the batting title, a contender for Gold Glove and be a Yankee representative at the All Star Game.
Just missed out - Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon, Brett Gardner
Key Departure - Masahiro Tanaka
Tanaka returns to Japan for his second stint with the Rakuten Eagles, leaving the Yankees with some questions about the back end of their rotation. Tanaka has been a mainstay of the starting rotation in the Bronx since we first came over in 2014. He leaves New York with a 78-46 record with a 3.74 ERA and never once finished a season with a win loss record below .500.
How well the Yankees can replace him, as well as J.A. Happ & James Paxton, at the back of their rotation will go a long way to predict their success in 2021. They have added a number of starting pitchers with huge potential, but with that potential comes an element of risk - particularly in regard to injury. If they can remain healthy, their rotation will be a force to be reckoned with deep into the postseason.
Just missed out - James Paxton, J.A. Happ, Adam Ottavino
Notable rookie cards - Deivi Garcia, Albert Abreu
The Yankees have two rookies in the Topps 2021 Series 1 set this year.
The 21 year old Deivi Garcia came up and started 6 games for the Yankees in 2020. His 4.98 ERA and 0.3 WAR in 2020 disguise just how good he was last year, with 1 poor game at Fenway Park skewing his numbers negatively. His excellent first impression last year means that he has a good shot to make the rotation to start this season.
We think that Garcia should be good for around 20 starts in 2021 with an ERA in the mid to low 4's.
Albert Abreu also made his debut last year where he struggled in an extremely small sample size of 1.1 innings. The 25 year old is at something of a crossroads with the Yankees this year, because he's run out of minor league options. Which means he'll have to pass through waivers if the Yankees want to send him to the minor leagues again. A place in the bullpen seems the most likely place for Abreu come Opening Day but ultimately it will be how he performs which determines whether he will stay there.
Predicted 2021 Team MVP - Gerrit Cole
It's always difficult to put a starting pitcher as a team's MVP because in the best case scenario, they only take to the field once every 5 days. But Gerrit Cole is that good. He will be the ace of the Yankee rotation again this season and they can confidently expect at least 15 wins, an ERA in the low 3's and around 250 K's from him.
The Yankees have a bunch of players who would be the star player on a number of other Major League teams. We mentioned LeMahieu above, Giancarlo Stanton is a genuine threat to hit 40 home runs this season, Aaron Judge has developed into a true star & Luke Voit hit the most home runs in the Majors last year. The list just goes on.
And we haven't even mentioned Gleyber Torres or Aroldis Chapman yet, both of whom have every chance of representing the Yankees at the All Star game again.
Then there's Clint Frazier who looks set to have a great year after finally getting an opportunity to be an everyday starter.
The Yankees narrowly lost in the ALDS last year and with almost all of their 2020 players returning, along with some excellent pitching additions, Yankees fans will have justifiable reason to think they can go further this time around.
Player to watch for the future - Jasson Dominguez
Dominguez is just 18 and is already #32 on the list of the 100 top prospects compiled by MLB Pipeline. He has yet to play a game in the minor leagues after they were cancelled last year, but the fact that he is so high on the list of top prospects, despite that, says a lot about him and his reputation as a baseball player.
It will likely be a few years until we see him in pinstripes - fangraphs.com has an ETA of 2025 - but after already having comparisons made with Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout, Yankees fans will be hoping it won't be too long before he arrives in the Bronx.
Just missed out - Clarke Schmidt, Oswald Peraza, Luis Medina
Storyline to keep an eye on - Can Corey Kluber & Jameson Taillon stay healthy for a full season?
Kluber signed for the Yankees on a low risk 1 year $11m contract this offseason. But he has only pitched 36.2 innings over the last two seasons, with just 1 inning for Texas in 2020, after battling with injuries. When healthy, Kluber has been one of the top pitchers in the game and is a 2 time Cy Young winner. If he can start 20 games for New York, plus in the postseason, then he will represent an absolute bargain for the Yankees.
The Yankees also traded for Jameson Taillon in January, bringing his excellent 3.67 career ERA with him. He missed the whole of the 2020 season after having Tommy John surgery for the 2nd time in his career. This is all in addition to being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2017. The fact that he's even reporting to Spring Training - let alone looking healthy - is impressive to say the least with everything he has had to battle with.
We're big fans of Jameson Taillon and are really rooting for him to have a long, healthy season in 2021. We think he will. We predict he pitches 140 innings with an ERA a shade below 4.
If Kluber, Taillon or both can return to their pre-injury form, then the Yankees will have one of the most impressive rotations in recent memory.
Prediction for 2021 - 1st in the AL East
The Yankees have a formidable line-up with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres to name but a few. They have an ace in the truest sense of the word in Gerrit Cole, a lights out closer in Aroldis Chapman and a rotation that is the envy of most other teams.
Even though other teams in the AL East have improved, we struggle to see how any of them beat the Yankees to the top of the division, that is unless New York gets really unlucky with injuries.
We think that they will finish the regular season with the best record in the American League, then go deep into the playoffs.
Do you agree with our predictions? Or have we got them horribly wrong?
Let us know in the comments or on twitter.
Comments