4 Yankees who could lose their jobs before 2022 postseason

The New York Yankees are about to experience the flip side of being decimated by injuries midway through the season. Eventually, some of those guys return (some, not all), and you’re forced to eject someone who’s become a key contributor to a potential postseason roster in the interim.

Some players started 2022 as fill-ins and they’ll end it the same way. Miguel Andújar, Tim Locastro, Estevan Florial, and Ryan Weber will all get thanked for their service, and might even get to pop champagne after a postseason spot is clinched if the timing is right, but all four players will be casualties of a forthcoming massive roster crunch.

But a few cases … are tougher.

There are some Yankees who’ve been around for nearly the entire 2022 season, filling an important role, would could get bumped off the playoff roster — or the roster altogether. There are some Yankees who would survive on talent alone, but whose minor-league options could send them back to purgatory — hey, it’s happened plenty of times earlier this season. And there are some Yankees who just flat-out should not be around in October … but will they wriggle their way back to the surface anyway?

These four Yankees are in the most danger of losing their regular gigs once several key players — from Zack Britton and Scott Effross to DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo — all return to make an October impact.

These 4 Yankees will lose their roles before 2022 MLB Playoffs

4. Greg Weissert

This all depends on what you think Greg Weissert’s job was in 2022 — and, frankly, it’s kind of unclear what the Yankees’ answer to that question would be.

Was he just supposed to be a midseason fill-in, with all eyes firmly planted on 2023 no matter the results? In that case, he’s just doing his duty like Florial and Andújar. But did the Yankees envision Weissert potentially climbing up the trust tree before the postseason and working his way into one of the final roster spots? Based on their usage of the slider-heavy righty, it kind of seemed like they thought he might be up for the long haul.

And Weissert’s nasty. Pitching Ninja nasty. He just hasn’t quite put enough quality outings together to survive the likely upcoming bullpen roster purge, ahead of the additions of Scott Effross, Zack Britton, Aroldis Chapman, and possibly Miguel Castro.

His first three appearances came on a tough west coast swing, and featured one hell of a debut in Oakland, followed by some mop-up work to get his feet wet, followed by an essential pair of shutout innings after Jameson Taillon was struck with a liner and the pitching plan went haywire. So far, so good as a desperation fill-in.

Then came a rough appearance in the 9-0 drubbing at the Trop (which featured Marwin Gonzalez on the mound), followed by four straight traditional high-leverage outings: 2-2 game against the Twins, extra innings against the Twins, 2-2 game against the Twins again, and an opportunity to bail out Lucas Luetge early in Sunday’s bullpen game. All told, he’s whiffed nine in eight innings with a 1.25 WHIP. He’s been good! But he’s been 2023 good.

Weissert will not have a playoff roster spot this season unless things change drastically. Maybe that was the expectation all along. But it seemed like the Yankees could’ve been swayed otherwise.

3. Lucas Luetge

Losing Lucas Luetge right before the postseason would be a brutal capper on a year where the Yankees fought like hell to keep him around, as well as a year where he delivered more often than not.

Luetge’s lack of options led to both Clarke Schmidt and Ron Marinaccio spending undue time in the minors this season, only because there was no viable alternative without the Yankees cutting bait on some semi-trusted veterans (and they hate to do that). And they’d want to lose him now, after jumping through hoops all year to keep him? Well … yeah. What did the Jordan Montgomery trade teach us? If he’s not going to pitch in October, he might not be here much longer.

The left-hander has mostly been a mop-up guy, which doesn’t really play well in the postseason, when the mop-up guys will presumably be Jameson Taillon and Domingo German. He’s had some highlight-reel moments lately (namely, getting Carlos Correa to whiff as the tying run last Wednesday), but he remains mainly a same-side guy with excellent breaking stuff who can absorb three innings in a blowout or a high-leverage opportunity if it’s really necessary.

That said … 2.45 ERA since Aug. 1. Better than Wandy Peralta. He’s gotten the Yankees through some very tough times, and caused some roster conundrums earlier in the summer.

It would stink to sink his 2022 season, and Yankees career, just to welcome back Zack Britton. But if all four of these bullpen reinforcements are returning, he might have to say goodbye a few days before Game 162.

1. Aaron Hicks

When Aaron Hicks was yanked early from Friday night’s fiasco, it defused a potentially very uncomfortable situation. Hicks said all the right things to the media after the game. Aaron Boone didn’t mention Hicks’ play plainly, but stated that he felt he had to get him off the field.

Hicks then proceeded to remain on the bench for the final two games of the home series against the Rays.

The Yankees’ depth has been tested significantly over the past few weeks. But, even so, will Hicks ever play a home game for this team again? Is that a wise idea? And, if not, should the Yankees gift him a playoff roster spot, with several viable candidates on the pecking order ahead of him?

Decimated by injuries or not, the Yankees managed to roll out a competent lineup on both Saturday and Sunday, putting up 10 runs in each game without so much as a Hicks cameo. If he hasn’t lost his role yet, it’s safe to say reigniting Hicks isn’t atop the team’s wishlist as October approaches.

Once Harrison Bader completes his rehab (which will theoretically be before the Sept. 20 game against the Pirates), that will allow the Yankees to roll Bader in left, Aaron Judge in center, and master spark plug Oswaldo Cabrera in right field, a player the Yankees clearly love (and who seems unlikely to man first base, at any point, with Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu both trending upwards).

Hicks is unlikely to lose a 40-man roster spot before the offseason. But how can Aaron Boone really go back to that well, after essentially severing ties on Friday night? The Yankees have the personnel to avoid using Hicks, and they should remain dedicated to looking the other way until the 2022 campaign is over.

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