5 Yankees on 40-man roster who won’t last all of 2023

2. Albert Abreu

Per delusional Yankees Twitter, Albert Abreu is “tearing it up” in the Dominican Winter League. His line? 3.27 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and nine strikeouts in 11 innings of work. Some folks just happened to catch one nasty slider/changeup and convinced themselves that he has “potential.”

How much longer are we willing to wait on that, though? Baseball-Reference hawks will head on over to his page and try to justify his 22-game showing in New York last year. Or they might point to his impressive August back in 2021.

But that isn’t enough for a reliever the Yankees ostensibly hope to count on. If Abreu stays to pick up the trash in mop-up duty, then fine. If he’s ever utilized in a high-leverage situation when it’s not an absolute emergency, then the Yankees are beating a dead horse.

Abreu, 27, has time and time again proven that he’s incapable of harnessing consistency. Not every reliever needs to be a sub-4.00 ERA arm … but they certainly can’t oscillate from somewhat serviceable to batting practice.

With a few younger arms hoping to make an impact in the bullpen at the onset of 2023 (and as the season progresses), look for Abreu to be the odd man out later in the year (if the Yankees don’t make the decision prior to Opening Day).