Yankees: 3 players who definitely aren’t returning by end of season

Whether motivated by legitimate reasons or a bit of chicanery, you are not going to see these three Yankees invading this team’s end-of-season roster crunch. Declaring it now. Nope, nope, nope.

Before this campaign wraps, the Bombers will have plenty of things to sort out, all while hoping they don’t disrupt whatever precious balance of roster chemistry is fostering their current monster stretch from July 4 to present.

It’s not just some nebulous “good vibes,” either. Every member of the roster has seemed essential in one moment or another, from Andrew Velazquez making the game-sealing impossible play against the Red Sox to Albert Abreu and Joely Rodriguez securing key outs in tough spots.

But, lo and behold, the cavalry is coming.

Gleyber Torres should be back before too long, and Gio Urshela seems primed to be activated this week.

Corey Kluber maybe has one more rehab start in him before the team has to take a long look at promoting him, and though Luis Severino’s rehab was cut short, there was nothing structurally wrong with his shoulder when last the team checked. He could need a spot by the end of the season, too, with bullpen innings still at a premium (Zack Britton’s not walking through that door, and if he is, he’s doing so gingerly).

Alas … some of the guys we’ve fallen for will have to go, as long as everything transpires as planned. It’ll already be tough enough to dismiss Velazquez and Abreu, who are likely the first targets, that you’d have to imagine the Yankees don’t want to look too far beyond that. Would Andrew Heaney get cut? Would Tyler Wade get demoted? What about … I don’t know, Lucas Luetge? No, but … maybe?

The Yankees will have 28 roster spots to work with when Sept. 1 rolls around, and ideally they’ll be giving one of them to Luis Gil. In an effort to maintain as much of their current roster as possible while only using one additional space, I can nearly assure you that you won’t be seeing any of these three players for the remainder of the season.

These 3 Yankees won’t come back before 2022.

3. Clint Frazier

It seems Clint Frazier was playing through much more than he let on this year — remember when collided with a wall this spring, then later missed some time? — and for that, we commend him and worry for him.

Unfortunately, the moment he opted out of his rehab stint, while the Yankees’ season moved on swimmingly without him, he all but sealed his fate for 2021. It’s depressing to think about how far away 2020 feels with regard to Frazier — and even how far away his mid-2021 walk-off homer against the Rays feels — but this surging team no longer has the need to force him into action down the stretch.

And, besides, getting to the bottom of Frazier’s issues seems far more important.

Miguel Andújar feels like a safe name to include in this section of the article, too, recently transferred to the 60-Day IL to deal with a wrist issue. Last season, the Yankees shuttled him back and forth to the Alternate Site so often his agent got furious. We would not put it past the team to pull some more shenanigans with him, too, although he looked like a rejuvenated player at points in mid-June (again, on a much worse version of this Yankee team).

We’re wishing both players the best of luck, but their recent disappearances all but ensure New York’s braintrust won’t be hustling to get them back. They might’ve both played their final games in pinstripes already.

1. Domingo German

Remember when Domingo German was toeing the rubber at Fenway Park, six outs away from a 4-0 no-hitter? Good times. And then we neeeeeeever saw him again.

German’s position on this roster already seemed tenuous before his reported “setback” this week, which involved a bit more shoulder pain … and that’s all we learned before Aaron Boone packed up his suitcase and sprinted into the next room. Even prior to that new piece of news, who were you kicking out in order to accommodate him?

Luetge? Abreu? Holmes? Counting Gil, the Yankees have six starters for five spots already (Heaney’s been fine), so it’s quite likely a less-than-full-strength German would’ve been transitioning into a bullpen role down the stretch. As of now, we’re more confident in any one of those out-getters than we are in teaching German how to get nothing but high-leverage outs on the fly.

Plus, when it comes to a starter being inserted into that situation, we’re more comfortable with Severino — hell, or even Heaney or Gil, when the time comes.

Whether or not German’s latest setback is actually severe, don’t expect to hear his name too many more times down the stretch. He’s too closely associated with the worst moments of the Yankees’ first half, anyway.

Yankees: 3 players you should be prepared to lose this winter

The New York Yankees are going to have to prepare to lose these three players this offseason, whenever the 2021 campaign wraps up.