Ten Yankees set to benefit from potential MLB roster expansion

If MLB has plans to expand rosters in order to begin the 2020 season, a handful of New York Yankees players are set to benefit from extra playing time.

How the 2020 Major League Baseball season is going to look remains a mystery. Could the league still attempt to squeeze in a full 162-game season with multiple double-headers per week? Or cut the season in half, leading to a fragmented New York Yankees season?

The latest reports indicate that the MLB is looking at hosting seasons in Florida and Arizona, at spring training facilities. For 2020 at least, the league could adjust its realignment with the Yankees playing in a division with the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Other proposals are being discussed and it’s too early to tell how baseball will attempt to create a patchwork season amid this pandemic.

However, one key aspect of any proposal the MLB moves forward with will be the size of Major League rosters. Will teams be able to keep an extra arm or position player to help lighten the load if more games are squeezed into the schedule?

Exactly how the MLB will implement roster expansion will be interesting. The league was set to add one roster spot for a position player in 2020, allowing teams to carry 26 players until September, where the roster would expand to 28 men, down from 40 in previous seasons.

The MLB could decide to stick with a 28-man roster to kick-off the 2020 season to help limit injuries and give organizations more options in for potential double-headers. Regardless of how rosters will operate, it will likely be necessary to have larger roster sizes at least to begin the year.

Expanded rosters could help limit injuries and fatigue as players are likely going to be asked to play more games and ramp up quickly prior to the start of a potential season.

For a handful of Yankees minor leaguers and non-roster invitees, larger rosters could mean a spot on the big league team. It would also mean that a few position battles that were heating up in early March may have both players landing on the roster.

P Jonathan Loaisiga

With Luis Severino out for the season, James Paxton on the pine for the first third of the season and Domingo German serving a suspension Jonathan Loaisiga’s chances at a spot in the starting rotation skyrocketed by mid-March.

At the moment, the Yankees rotation appears to be Gerritt Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and Jordan Montgomery, leaving the fifth spot wide open for Loaisiga

Loaisiga has spent portions of the last two seasons with the big league club as both a starter and reliever. He has flashed in both roles, even landing on the postseason roster in 2019. Still, his long-term role on the team is yet to be decided.

Does he have what it takes to be a starter? Or is he better utilized in short bursts out of the pen? With an expanded roster, Loaisiga could begin the season as a starter and if it appears to much for him to handle at just 25-years-old, he could make a smooth transition to the later innings.

There is reason to believe that he can become a legitimate weapon out of the pen late in games. Loaisiga boasts a high-to-mid 90s fastball and a wicked breaking pitch that hitters barely touched last season, hitters were only able to muster .125 batting average when facing his curveball, according to baseballsavant.com.

P Ben Heller

Just a quick look at Ben Heller’s numbers from 2017 and 2019 show that he could be a solid bullpen arm. Albeit injuries essentially wiped out his 2018 and most of last season, and his other Major League stints were very short, he did push for a roster spot this spring.

Heller was optioned to Triple-A in late March but reports indicated that Heller could right back in New York if the MLB were to expand rosters. In it until the end, Heller is one of the more likely candidates if the Yanks are able to keep an extra arm or two.

Heller was sent to the Yankees back in 2016 in the Andrew Miller trade, hopefully, he can finally make his mark in 2020.

OF Clint Frazier

The longer his career in pinstripes lasts, the more it feels like Clint Frazier’s timing is just not right. Prior to the season, he looked poised to get one last chance to prove that he belonged on the team. Aaron Judge came down with a fractured rib, Aaron Hicks continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery and Giancarlo Stanton was set to miss the beginning of the season after suffering a calf strain.

Now with the season delayed, Judge and Stanton could heal and just like that, Frazier is back in Scranton. With the starters getting healthy, there is no reason to have Frazier sitting on the bench instead of getting consistent swings in the minors.

However, if Judge, in particular,  is unable to go, Frazier still may get solid reps in right field. Stanton likely won’t be getting significant reps in the outfield with his injury history, leaving Mike Tauchman and Brett Gardner to man center field and left field on most days.

Defense will continue to be a reason for worry until Frazier can prove 2019 was nothing more than a blip in the radar.

However, he has proven himself at the dish. In March/April of last year, he helped carry a Yankees offense that was desperate for production.

He held a .324/.342/.632 slash line in the first month of the season, smashing six homers and 17 RBI. Frazier’s talent is hard to ignore, he may just not get a legitimate opportunity in 2020. Either way, an expanded roster will help Frazier stick around in the big leagues, regardless of his role on the team.

OF Rosell Herrera

The biggest name coming out of Yankees spring training was Rosell Herrera. He hit .400 with four extra-base hits after finding himself in the conversation for an outfield spot. Alike Frazier, returning players may cause him to miss the 26-man roster but if baseball decides to increase that number, Herrera may go from non-roster invitee, to the bench in short order.

Could he follow in the footsteps of Gio Urshela and his remarkable 2019 season?

P Michael King

If the Yankees need to add an arm that can provide length out of the pen, Michael King is their best bet. He can serve as a long reliever or emergency starter in a season that could call for an innings eater.

King made his MLB debut last season and pitched in four games giving up four runs in 9.1 innings. He doesn’t appear to be a highly-touted prospect, with his ceiling sitting as a backend starter, so if he can throw strikes, it might be a good option when games get out of hand or another inevitable injury strikes.

P Deivi Garcia

After a subpar spring training (6 ER, 7.1 IP) the Yankees will likely keep Deivi Garcia in the minors for the majority of the year. He can also force the team’s hand with another strong campaign but expanded roster could have him on the team at some point in 2020.

Garcia flew up the Yankees farm system a year ago, starting in High-A and landing in Scranton by the time the season was up. There was even buzz that Garcia would get the call up in September and get a chance to be a bullpen weapon in the postseason.

It is probably best to let Garcia takes his time, there’s no pressing need to rush his development with the season pushed back but he’s a prospect to keep a close eye on as the season progresses.

P Tyler Lyons

The Yankees have liked Tyler Lyons for over a decade now. Well, that is if you consider they drafted him in the 10th round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. Lyons was signed as a free agent last year after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates in August. The lefty pitched in 11 games for New York posting a 4.15 ERA.

He was nothing special but the Yankees bullpen could use a left-hander as Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman are typically saved for the 8th and 9th innings.

P Nick Nelson

Nick Nelson is a 40-man pitcher who could find himself in as the longman in the Yankees pen. He spent the majority of 2019 in Double-A Trenton where he pitched well, going 7-2 with a 2.35 ERA. He only allowed 48 hits in 65 innings with the Thunder but his 35 walks may be what holds him back at the Major League level.