Projecting New York Yankees’ Opening Day roster for 2022

Yankees Outfield (5)

• Aaron Judge
• Giancarlo Stanton
• Joey Gallo
• Aaron Hicks
• Ender Inciarte

The easiest projection of all, by leaps and bounds.

There’s a chance the Yankees run with four outfielders over five. Hell, there’s a chance Aaron Hicks doesn’t even physically make it to Opening Day.

As of now, this is the highest-likelihood projection of them all. Swap Inciarte out for Free Agent TBD, if you’d like. Or swap him out for Cabrera in the infield or German buried in the bullpen. Bottom line is, four of these five names will make anyone’s projected roster (presuming health), and if the Yankees forget to grab insurance for Hicks, that’d be malpractice.

Our preference for the outfield, as stated, is Seiya Suzuki in left, Joey Gallo as the primary center fielder, and Hicks roving in the background as a fourth outfielder. Ken Davidoff predicted the Suzuki fit earlier this week, too, though, at this point, we’re fairly confident he’s going to Boston.

If this were an idealized outfield, then sure. We’d take a stand. We’d put an additional free agent star out there.

For now? We’ll just predict that an Aaron Judge six-year, $180 million extension breaks the ice when the lockout ends, and the Yankees go to work with these familiar names.

7 Yankees facing uncertain futures heading into 2022

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