Yankees: Projecting the starting outfield in 2019

Collectively the Yankees outfield had another strong season in 2018, but there are no guarantees that we’ll see the same group in 2019. With Brett Gardner and Andrew McCutchen, both set to become free agents, it’s tough to say who will be the starting left fielder moving forward.

One thing we do know about the Yankees outfield heading into next season is that All-Star Aaron Judge will be back in right field and Aaron Hicks will be back in center looking to build off of a career season in 2018. Also, Giancarlo Stanton will continue to be the primary DH and fill in when needed at either corner outfield spot.

When the Yankees acquired McCutchen for the September stretch run this past season he turned out to be an outstanding leadoff man, but it’s likely he’ll sign elsewhere this winter. McCutchen isn’t the perennial MVP candidate he once was but he’s still a very productive player at 32 years old and he should get some multi-year offers with a $12-15 million average salary. As much as the Yankees would like to bring McCutchen back it’s highly doubtful they’d do so at that price range.

The longest-tenured Yankee Gardner could be back but it shouldn’t be in an everyday role after he really struggled in the second half of the season once again. Gardner has a $12 million club option for 2019 that won’t be picked up so if he wants to return to the only team he’s ever played for he’s going to have to take a pay cut and accept a role off the bench.

Another option to be the team’s fourth outfielder next season is none other than fan favorite Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury missed all of 2018 with multiple injuries but he’s still under contract for two more years and unless the Yankees just straight up cut Ellsbury and pay the rest of his terrible contract he’ll be in the mix to be on the 25-man roster. Nobody’s going to want to trade for him and take on the over $40 million still owed to him so the Yankees are probably stuck with him for now.

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Regardless of what the future holds for Gardner or Ellsbury, the player the Yankees should strongly consider starting in left field next season is Clint Frazier (if he’s healthy). Frazier is coming off a miserable 2018 campaign plagued by post-concussion symptoms that kept him sidelined for the majority of the year.

With concussions, you never really know how a player will bounce back or if the symptoms will continue to linger, however, the Yankees believe Frazier should be 100% by spring training. If that’s the case he should get the first crack at the starting job because he has all the tools to be one of the next great Baby Bombers.

As much as I’d love to see Frazier play every day I also wouldn’t be totally shocked if the Yanks opted to spend big money on a star free agent such as Bryce Harper. I don’t think they will because that money should be used to upgrade the starting rotation, but as we learned last offseason with the Stanton trade, nothing is really ever off the table for GM Brian Cashman.