Yankees: How to extend their championship window

Given the strength and youth of their roster, the Yankees seem primed to be a World Series contender for a number of years. However, they cannot take that for granted and must do all they can to extend their championship window.

It might be easy to think the Yankees are in a good position to win now and in the future, but it is the front office’s job, especially when you work for the Yankees, to produce a consistent contender capable of winning a World Series every year.

As it stands now, the Yankees look like they could be contenders until at least 2023, as Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino are all set to be free agents prior to that season. At this time, Judge will be 31 years old, Sanchez will be 30, and Severino will be 29. None of them will be too ancient but they won’t be at the prime age you hand out huge extensions for five-plus years to.

In addition, the Yankees will have about $30 million tied up in Giancarlo Stanton, along with the salaries of current prospects who will be arbitration-eligible such as Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, Justus Sheffield, and Estevan Florial. They may also have salaries for Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird on the books if they decide to extend them, along with Jordan Montgomery’s final year of arbitration.

Andujar will likely be in his last year of arbitration, commanding anywhere from $10 – 17 million if he lives up to the hype. Torres will likely be in his second year of arbitration given how the Yankees manipulated his service time and could command roughly $10 million.

If only considering Stanton, Judge, Sanchez, Severino, Torres, and Andujar’s potential salaries, the Yankees payroll could be pushing $160+ million for 2023. Now add in other arbitration salaries, free agent salaries (especially if it’s a Bryce Harper or Manny Machado), and rookie contracts, and it’s easy to see their payroll well above $200 million.