3 players Yankees wish they still had on current roster

Here are three players who the Yankees likely still wish they had on their current roster.

The 2020 MLB playoffs have finally arrived and the New York Yankees, despite their glaring inconsistencies this season, remain among the favorites to win it all — at least, they can’t be counted out. Though the offense went cold in the final week, it’s obviously still right up there as one of the deepest and most dangerous of the remaining teams.

Fans in the Bronx will just have to hope that the lineup’s clutch gene doesn’t fade like it did in their last two postseason journeys beyond the initial rounds. As crazy as it sounds, the Yankees’ pitching — which was widely said to be their most glaring weakness — ultimately proved to be their biggest strength during the 2019 playoffs. At some point, both sides have to click at the same time in October, and there’s no reason to think it couldn’t be this year.

Like every team in the postseason, however, the Yankees have a number of concerning holes on the roster. The majority of them can be found in the starting rotation and bullpen, as the offense has the depth to overcome the struggles of two or three hitters.

In other words, this puts a ton of more pressure on the Yankees’ pitching staff and it goes without saying that the club could really use some former players who general manager Brian Cashman let get away in recent seasons. Here are the first three that come to mind.

3. Justus Sheffield

It might be time for Yankees fans to start thinking about whether trading for James Paxton was a mistake. When you consider that the 31-year-old southpaw will hit free agency at season’s end and is unlikely to be re-signed, New York essentially traded for one season of solid starting pitching and a season-saving ALCS Game 5 start.

It’d be an entirely different story had the Yankees captured a championship in 2019, but that obviously wasn’t the case. Lofty expectations were set on Paxton entering this year, and injuries unfortunately limited him to five starts. If that puts on a bow on his tenure in the Bronx, he delivered a 4.16 ERA and 1.304 WHIP across 171 innings (34 starts).

The Yankees, of course, acquired Paxton in exchange for touted southpaw Justus Sheffield, who put together a solid debut campaign with Seattle in 2020, finishing 4-3 with a 3.58 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 10 starts. We all know how valuable lefties are come playoff time, and the budding 24-year-old would undoubtedly have a role to play — most likely out of the bullpen — on this Yankees roster.

1. Sonny Gray

We’re not here to argue whether some players were or weren’t built to succeed in New York. What matters here is that the Yankees could prove to benefit from more starting pitching, and Sonny Gray has ironically morphed back into a stud with Cincinnati since being traded there last January after a forgettable tenure in the Bronx.

In 34 starts for the Yankees, Gray finished 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA, an equally egregious 1.416 WHIP and a 2.0 WAR . Across 42 starts with the Reds following the trade, he’s 16-11 with a 3.07 ERA, 277 strikeouts, a 1.115 WHIP and a 3.1 WAR. Those numbers really make you ponder why he couldn’t channel that All-Star caliber level of pitching with the Yankees.

It’s hard to say if New York should regret unloading Gray, but they would undoubtedly take this version of him on this current roster. Imagine having a reliable third starter in the playoffs behind Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka? The Yankees simply don’t have that luxury right now, and it could (emphasis on could) prove to be their downfall when all is said and done.

Much like Gallegos, we’d take this improved version of Gray on this Yankees team any day of the week. Since that isn’t possible, here’s to hoping that Deivi Garcia, or whomever wins the No. 3 job, proves us wrong.

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