Yankees: Players Who Won't Be on Roster After 2020

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The New York Yankees will be saying goodbye to some rostered players following 2020.

After what felt like 26 years of pent-up emotion, post-1994 strike, the MLBPA and MLB are finally, sort of, kind of approaching what may or may not be a deal. And this framework could still fall through. And I could still punt a throw pillow into the Hudson River. Lots can happen.

But, pushing all complications aside for a brief second, it does appear we’re getting closer to a shortened 2020 season, without ample opportunity for many Yankees depth pieces to prove themselves or rise up a few levels in the pecking order. Additionally, most there are several Yankee free agents of varying importance who’ll be hitting the market, from Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton to The Machine LeMahieu himself.

So who comes out of this 2020 power struggle on the bottom? Unfortunately, these Yankees are unlikely to return in 2021.

3. JA Happ, Yankees LHP

New York Yankees starter JA Happ (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

There’s likely no room for JA Happ on the 2021 New York Yankees.

If the MLBPA and MLB ownership come to their senses and conclude on a 65-ish-game 2020 season, then unfortunately, JA Happ has no chance of attaining the innings milestone that he so sneakily added to his most recent contract. Unless he throws nearly every inning of every game, the Happster’s not throwing 165 innings in 2020 — and that’s just fine!

That being said, the Yankees’ fourth starter will be 38 years old when next offseason begins, and New York probably wanted a way out of that escalating contract regardless, with Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton still to pay.

Happ’s stretch run in 2018 won’t be forgotten, but now that it’s not a requirement, he probably doesn’t have a place on the 2020 team.

2. Clint Frazier, Yankees Outfielder

Clint Frazier #77 of the New York Yankees (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

New York Yankees OF Clint Frazier’s quick-twitch bat speed needs a home.

This was supposed to be the year, as last year was supposed to be the year, as every year since 2017 has before it. Clint Frazier was ready for a breakout — after all, what more did he have to prove at Triple-A in 2020?

Nevermind that Frazier already performed exceptionally well in 2019, leading the Yankees offense alongside Luke Voit during that strange end-of-April west coast swing, hitting .267 with 12 homers and 38 RBI overall. That’s a major league bat. Unfortunately, the Yankees also need major league pitching.

It’s depressing that Frazier won’t get a full 2020 (if any games at all) to prove his current worth, considering the Yankees will have plenty of holes to fill on the mound after the season ends, and he remains their most big league-ready trade chip (after all, it’s hard to get more big league-ready than a big leaguer).

That being said, though, we still find it to be quite likely that Frazier finds himself on the move for a Tanaka/Paxton replacement this offseason. New York simply has too much tied up in outfielders long-term, and the entrance of the DH to the NL opens up half the league to Frazier’s mashing skill. Unless he proves himself intrinsic to a 60-game World Series champion, we expect to see him head elsewhere.

And speaking of Tanaka/Paxton…

1. James Paxton, Yankees Pitcher

New York Yankees pitcher James Paxton (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

We’ll miss Yankees pitcher James Paxton tremendously when he’s gone.

It seems that, with the Yankees starved for pitching, one will stay and one will go between 32-year-old rotation mates Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton, with Tanaka remaining the likely option to return, rumor has it.

Of course, since this truncated campaign has changed everything, perhaps Paxton is open to a one-year reset to prove he can stay fully healthy over the course of what we hope will be a 162-game schedule in 2021? If so, it’s quite likely New York would be amenable to that.

But such a compromise isn’t fair to Paxton, who has one chance remaining at a big money long-term deal with security, which another MLB team on the verge of contention (I’ll guess the Chicago White Sox) can offer him. He was excellent in New York for large stretches of 2019, coming up absolutely huge in ALCS Game 5, keeping the NYY alive and begging to stay in to finish as much of his own work as possible.

Next. MLBPA Proposes 70-Game Counter. dark

If it has to end with a whimper, so be it. New York’s got to balance their books somehow, but we don’t have to be happy about it.

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Yankees: Players Who Won’t Be on Roster After 2020