Yankees: Club named top seed in MLB Dream Bracket tournament

Determining which franchise is the best overall is no easy challenge, with no straight answer. The folks at MLB.com, working with the awesome team at Out of the Park Developments, will be running a simulation to come up with an answer and the New York Yankees will be one of the top seeds.

The simulated tournament will feature 32 teams — each of the 30 MLB franchises, a Negro League All-Star team, and a team of current Under-25 stars (Gleyber Torres made the roster here coming off the bench).

The tournament’s opening round will take place Monday. Matchups will continue to be revealed on Tuesday. Some key battles will be streamed on MLB.com and MLB’s Twitch channel. The Yankees opening matchup is with the Seattle Mariners, Monday at 11 AM EST.

In a unique twist, Alex Rodriguez will appear in the series for both sides. Seattle will have the Mariners A-Rod while New York gets the Yankees A-Rod, each with their in-game attributes and ratings set based on the player’s tenure with each franchise.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see New York listed as the top American League seed when you consider the roster that was put together by MLB.com’s beat reporters. Each team was given a 26-man roster comprised of 11 pitchers and 15 hitters.

The Yankees roster is impressive:

Pitchers

Whitey Ford, Andy Pettitte, Ron Guidry, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyt, Mel Stottlemyre, Mariano Rivera, Dave Righetti, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle

Starting Lineups

Yogi Berra (C), Lou Gehrig (1B), Tony Lazzeri (2B), Alex Rodriguez (3B), Derek Jeter (SS), Mickey Mantle (LF), Joe DiMaggio (CF), Babe Ruth (RF), Reggie Jackson (DH)

Bench

Don Mattingly, Robinson Cano, Roger Maris, Graig Nettles, Paul O’Neill, Bill Dickey

There is no perfect roster for such a simulation. Every fan is going to have a differing opinion somewhere on this roster, be it about who starts at second base or who fills out the last spot in the bullpen.