3 Yankees who will make the 2024 Opening Day roster but won’t last the season

Nick Ramirez

Ramirez is a warm blanket. A warm blanket who, as Mike Harkey sarcastically mentioned in Tommy Kahnle's mic'd up segment this week, "has like 12 options" despite being the oldest arm in the bullpen mix.

When considering which players will be tasked with covering bulk bullpen innings early in the wake of the first inevitable injury wave, Ramirez feels like the safest bet to be tapped. He was surprisingly effective last season, filling Lucas Luetge's low-leverage role with aplomb over the course of 40 2/3 innings (0.9 bWAR, 2.66 ERA).

Unfortunately, "low leverage" is all he's meant for, and the left-hander turns 35 in August. Ramirez got better in the second half of 2023, posting a 1.93 ERA in 18 2/3 innings, which worked nicely in concert with his 3.27 mark in the first half. As the Yankees' season dragged on, though ... everything became low leverage while the team cratered. Ramirez finished the year with a 12.00 ERA in four total save situations. That's not his fault. That's not how he should be used.

It would be completely logical for Ramirez to be counted on to soak up first-half innings, but odds are the team will have upgraded his spot by midseason -- or fallen off course en route to another 2023-esque soft landing.