Yankees best options for the newly expanded 26-man roster spot

With MLB adding an extra man to each team’s active roster, it’s likely that Yankees manager Aaron Boone carries 13 pitchers and a four-man bench.

Aside from signing a frontline starting pitcher in Gerrit Cole, perhaps the Yankees most important transaction this winter was firing strength and conditioning coach Matt Krause.

Krause is being replaced by Eric Cressey, who has a longstanding relationship with new pitching coach Matt Blake.

Thirty players sent to the IL in 39 stints can never happen again. And although it would be unfair to blame Krause completely, sweeping change in the way the organization handles its player workouts needed to be addressed.

Major League Baseball is also doing their part to slightly lessen the load on coaches and players, adding a 26th man to the active roster from Opening Day through Aug. 31 and then expanding to 28 men on Sept. 1.

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The number of pitchers each club can carry will be capped at 13 until Sept. 1 when it can increase by one to 14. In an effort to speed up games, any pitcher that enters a contest must face a minimum of three batters.

With big-league benches shortening more and more, especially come playoff time, teams like the Yankees can now add an additional piece that might have proved otherwise troublesome.

By now, you know many of the names and faces that Boone will pencil into his everyday lineup. However, there are a few positions where an extra bench piece could create a platoon situation.

In left field, Giancarlo Stanton is only likely to need his glove two or three times per week. Therefore, while the consensus is that Mike Tauchman, who had a career-year in 2019, will man the position when Stanton is the designated hitter, an extra roster spot could be earned by Clint Frazier.

Although Frazier’s defense is shaky at best, he, like Miguel Andujar, won’t get any better with their gloves from the bench. So unless they outplay their competition in Spring Training (Gio Urshela is the incumbent at third base), only one is likely to split DH duties with Stanton, be relegated to the bench, or worse (for them, not necessarily the club) become starters at Triple-A Scranton.

Mike Ford’s left-handed stick would make a lot of sense as the Yanks’ 26th man, especially if Luke Voit doesn’t hit the ground running following his recovery from sports hernia surgery. A pitcher facing a minimum of three batters further helps Ford’s case. No longer will a manager automatically be able to turn to a lefty specialist late in the game for fear of right-handed hitters galore coming up soon after.

However, Ford is no better than Voit, defensively, which would require Boone to shift his infield alignment in the late innings of close games. For that to work, DJ LeMahieu would move back to first base while Gleyber Torres stays at shortstop, which gives way to someone like Tyler Wade or Thairo Estrada to make the team as a backup infielder.

I continue to say that Wade would make an excellent super-utility player because of his ability to play six different positions. While most people are stuck on his sub-par offensive numbers, his added dimension of stealing bases and even still, batting from the left side, could give him the edge.

While some teams may carry three catchers, the Yankees won’t be one of them. As it stands, Kyle Higashioka, who calls a nice game but hits very little, will be Gary Sanchez’s backup. And although veteran backstop Erik Kratz was signed to a minor-league deal, don’t expect him to get a call-up unless Higashioka fails miserably or Sanchez is placed on the injured list.

As for the pitching staff, with Domingo German slated to miss the first 63 games of the new season, Jordan Montgomery or J.A. Happ (if he isn’t traded) are expected to compete for the final spot in the rotation.

That could open the door for a swingman of sorts in Jonathan Loaisiga to make the opening day roster. Ben Heller, who is coming off of Tommy John surgery, might also be in the mix for the final bullpen role — as could Jonathan Holder and Stephen Tarpley, although both had atrocious seasons in 2019.