Dream Yankees starting lineup for the 2024 season

It might take a few dreams to get the 2024 Yankees anywhere close to the promised land they seek, but hey, that's what we're here for.

There's at least a small percentage chance that things come together for the Yanks next season, with only a few additions. After all, 2022 looked like a dream personified until morale dipped in July, Jordan Montgomery was traded, and then the wheels tore off and rolled into a ravine in August. 2023 wasn't supposed to be as bleak as it was, and the looming dark clouds were emboldened by Aaron Judge's absence. A few shrewd trades later, a couple of breaks (for once), and the Yankees could be next fall's darlings. It always happens when you least expect it, right?

Here's the dream 2024 Yankees lineup

In crafting a Dream Lineup, we simply refused to go insane, as tempting as it might be. This means the only players we were allowed to insert into the lineup were realistic acquisitions or free agent signings -- and, yes, if we'd projected a Giancarlo Stanton trade, that would've been more fanciful than asking Derek Jeter to come out of retirement. Even in a dream, your bubble can burst. You ever been turned down for a date in a dream? Yikes, but it can happen. Let's get into it.

Batting first, Brendan Donovan, LF

The Yankees need to flex their trade muscles this offseason if their offense is going to come together. That could mean the arrival of one of the league's most prominent superstars. Most logically, though, it means the Yanks and St. Louis Cardinals will find their way to one another.

Midseason, it seemed the Cards were most focused on trading Dylan Carlson from their stable of versatile outfielders. Carlson might be the most busted prospect of all the B-grade players St. Louis is shopping, though. He's been powerless at the big league level and succumbed to season-ending ankle surgery in 2023 after the pain nagged him all year. Does that sound like the solution to the Yankees' young talent gap?

Now that we've reached the cliff's edge between 2023 and 2024, the Cardinals seem more willing to move names like Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan, and the Yankees can't hope for much better than Donovan, as far as versatility is concerned. The .284 hitter with a .365 OBP is our Opening Day left fielder, but when the Yankees heal up, he can move to third, second, or anywhere else he's needed.