5 Yankees players who don't deserve to be on 2023 40-man roster

Jimmy Cordero, RHP

We're entering our second year of waiting for this lottery ticket to pay off. For an impatient franchise, they sure are willing to stick by ex-White Sox castoff Jimmy Cordero.

Cordero, 31 years old, has a Clay Holmes-esque repetoire, and the Yankees seem more than willing to wait for the opportunity to unlock the injured right-hander with the high-velocity sinker, which he throws 59% of the time.

Unfortunately, he's thrown it 0% of the time at the MLB level since 2020, considering he hasn't thrown a big-league pitch since the ill-fated shortened season. He wrapped that year with a 6.08 ERA in 26.2 innings, following up his solid 2019 season (37.1 innings, 11 walks, 31 Ks, 2.89 ERA) with a stinker.

The Yankees have been far more patient with Cordero than they were with the last "Exciting Matt Blake" project Junior Fernández, who had a similar profile and flamed out with the Pirates and Cardinals. We thought Fernández was The Guy. Unfortunately, he was on the chopping block during New York's December free agency flurry, and is already back out in the world.

Cordero's still here, though he has to be the low man on the totem pole at this point. Let's see if he sticks around when the team adds a left fielder. That's coming someday, right?

Right??

Josh Donaldson, 3B

Josh Donaldson's story has been told repeatedly this offseason. He was acquired last offseason to be a thorn in the rest of baseball's side, and instead ended up stabbing the Yankees in the gut.

He was aging, sure, but he'd maintained his trademark exit velocity through 2021, so why wouldn't it continue translating to power production in 2022? He didn't. It didn't.

He came with a massive contract attached, but the ability to absorb dollar figures that teams like the Minnesota Twins can't handle has always been the Yankees' inherent advantage. They wouldn't allow his deal to hamstring further spending. Except they did. And it did.

The silliest part of all is that Brian Cashman and Co. have continued to doggedly stand by Donaldson, touting his Gold Glove-level defense and proclaiming him an all-time 2022 snub, even though there was no way he was being honored by any committee after the Tim Anderson controversy he invited upon himself.

Donaldson had better reverse the aging curve quickly. Otherwise, he'll be a glove-first third baseman making $25 million against the luxury tax this year for a team that lacks offense, not defense.

Maybe Cashman's been trying to advertise him as best he can in recent weeks, but it seems he's been given no choice but to believe in his third baseman. Donaldson will stay.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS (UTIL please)

Isiah Kiner-Falefa's $6 million salary seems absurdly easy to move, especially when compared to Donaldson and the Yankees' other big hurdle. He put up 3.0 WAR last season despite being painted a villain by Yankee fans. He might not be a starting-caliber shortstop, but he's shown significantly higher skill and comfort levels at third base, winning a Gold Glove there over Gio Urshela back in 2020.

Man, remember Gio Urshela? Miss that guy. Having that guy would've solved ... a lot of things.

Kiner-Falefa is what he is: a contact bat who'll hit for a high enough average and very little power, but can do the little things. He can cover multiple infield spots, and fans will appreciate the pesky bunts and poked singles a lot more if he isn't sold to them as a defensive sparkler at short, a position where his range was exposed repeatedly in 2022. His hands didn't help, either.

Back when the Yankees chose to tender him a contract for 2023, we assured through gritted teeth that the decision didn't necessarily mean he'd be around on Opening Day. As the season draws closer and the team has set up the bowling pins for Oswald Peraza to knock 'em down, it still seems like Kiner-Falefa has a chance to find a new home before April.

In the right situation, it's not difficult to imagine him producing enough to justify that modest price tag. In New York, where fans have already turned against him and DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera would be better options? Not so much.

Aaron Hicks, OF

Brian Cashman doesn't like to deliver his players contract extensions before he needs to, and it remains extremely ironic that the two times he's tried it in recent years, he paid Luis Severino immediately before a series of catastrophic injuries, and he paid Aaron Hicks before a similar bout of issues (with a natural dip in production mixed in).

Hicks' 2018 season (27 bombs, 79 RBI, 127 OPS+, 22nd in the MVP vote, cannon arm) was good enough to earn him a seven-year, $70 million extension that runs through 2025. There's a club option for 2026, too, but we'd bet against that being exercised.

At the time, the justification involved Hicks' ascendent production, combined with the idea that there wouldn't be any legitimate center field replacements hitting the market in the years to come. Counterpoint ... literally Bryce Harper? But we digress.

The troubles began the very next season when Hicks tore his UCL midseason and eventually needed offseason Tommy John. He was still a hero to many at that point, though, socking a three-run dinger off Justin Verlander with an injured elbow that shook the bleachers during ALCS Game 5.

Since then, though, Hicks has run aground, performing well enough in 2020 (.225 average, but a .379 OBP and 122 OPS+ in a wonky year) before falling off a cliff in early 2021 and tearing his wrist sheath.

He's never been the same, posting two consecutive brutal offensive seasons (73, 86 OPS+) with a whole lot of swing-and-miss baked in. He's also mixed in his fair share of brain farts, drawing the ire of the Yankee Stadium crowd when a Rays line drive doinked off his glove and he watched it doink during a crucial September game, failing to realize it was a fair ball and runs were scoring.

Hicks enters 2023 as something well below a $10 million player, and he's also coming off a leg injury that ended his postseason prematurely. There's a slight chance that Hicks' patience still makes him valuable this season. That chance is not worth taking.

$10 million isn't $25 million, either. It's surprising the Yankees haven't found a biter if they're willing to absorb 50% of his money. That said, they haven't been able to find a left field alternative, either, so Hicks likely stays. He'd better chase greatness more ferociously than he chased the ball in the corner last fall.