Yankees make series of moves to finalize roster and drop exciting Opening Day lineup

The New York Yankees will kick off the 2024 season on Thursday on the road against the Houston Astros in a matchup that should excite the general MLB landscape. These teams are rivals and have championship aspirations.

Yankees fans have been waiting for the last-minute decisions the team was set to make to finalize the Opening Day roster, and were greeted with a pleasant trade on Wednesday when Brian Cashman imported Jon Berti from the Miami Marlins.

But there weren't any formal announcements until Thursday. The Yankees announced a series of roster moves to finalize the group of 26 players they would be bringing to Houston, and there weren't many surprises outside of the IL assignments.

The Yankees placed Gerrit Cole on the 60-day IL and Oswald Peraza on the 15-day IL. Fans initially suspected that would be flipped because Cole's expected to miss 1-2 months while Peraza is likely going to be shut down for two months, meaning he's probably out for at least 2.5-3 months.

Perhaps they're giving themselves flexibility with Peraza because he had more time to rest than Cole? Perhaps they're just not going to mess with rushing Cole back and want him out for as long as possible to let his inflammation calm down? Either way, the news is official.

Yankees make series of moves to finalize roster and drop exciting Opening Day lineup

We do have one surprise, though! Jahmai Jones, who many thought were getting squeezed off the roster after the Berti trade, will be making the trip to Houston. Fans suspected the Yankees would be more inclined to carry an extra pitcher because of the injuries to the staff, but Jones will be on the bench with Berti, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells/Jose Trevino.

But on Thursday, it's Wells on the bench with Trevino getting the Opening Day start. He'll be catching Nestor Cortes. Leading off for the Bronx Bombers? Gleyber Torres! Check out this stacked lineup!

Juan Soto will make his debut in the No. 2 hole and Alex Verdugo will do the same batting seventh. Anthony Volpe got the bump to No. 6 after spending most of his time at the bottom of the lineup in 2023.

The Bombers will face off against a stacked Astros lineup, so they'll have their hands full, but, all things considered, this is a good-looking squad despite all the issues the team dealt with in spring training.