Predicting the Yankees' Wild Card Series playoff roster as chaotic decisions hang in the balance

The New York Yankees' season has left them with a unique playoff roster-building challenge that may not make it to the next CBA. How do you load up a roster aimed at taking advantage of the Boston Red Sox's weaknesses (left-handed pitching, especially if they're without Willson Contreras) without using too many pitchers? How do you avoid wasting roster spots that could've been nabbed by some of the game's biggest offensive stars?

This isn't what I believe the Yankees should do. It's what I believe they will do. This is all to say I've been potentially hooked and swindled by some of their pre-series bluster, but ... I really do believe they believe, like Seal once said, they're never gonna survive unless they get a little crazy,

Aaron Boone has said that the Yankees will not carry 12 pitchers in the opening round, and may not even carry 11. So, for the sake of the exercise, how do we get to a 26-man roster with only 10 pitchers?

Projecting a Yankees playoff roster with only 10 pitchers for the Wild Card Series vs. Red Sox

Yankees Rotation: Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole

The Yankees did it. They kept things close to the vest, then went with their strongest starter in first position.

When I believed they were about to choose Fried for Game 1, I wrote an extended monologue justifying the choice, calling it "not quite as silly a gambit as Deivi Garcia/JA Happ". After all, strong hints were wafting from the Yankees' clubhouse that they intended to stay on turn and start Max Fried, he of the 1.93 career ERA against the Red Sox and 11 2/3 innings with a single earned run allowed against them this year, so I had to justify it. The fact that they were reticent to go to Schlittler on anything less than a day's extra rest hinted to me that they had some workload concerns, and were trying to sell the choice in a different way. Carlos Rodón probably should get a start, but, again ... good problems. Lot of talent. He'll be available to caddy.

Cole in a potential win-or-go-home game scares me, but the Yankees don't have a single bad option here. Thankfully, they came to their senses to start things off and didn't play with their food. Fried still looks like a pretty excellent Game 2 choice for all the reasons mentioned above.

Yankees Bullpen (again, we're trying to get by with only seven names): Carlos Rodón, Will Warren, Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, David Bednar, John Schreiber, Tim Hill

Clarke Schmidt was a core option until the season's final week; he'll end the year with less than one inning pitched in his frenzied comeback bid. Aaron Boone said that, while Ryan Weathers hit 96 in his latest live bullpen session, he might not be an option for this round. He then waffled on that Sunday. We'll take him at his initial word in this projection.

There isn't much debate here, given our limitations, besides, "Is Rodón worth carrying?" and, "Michael Fulmer vs. Tim Hill vs. Ryan Yarbrough". If the Yankees add an 11th pitcher, our guess is Fulmer for a righty look. Hill could be left out for Yarbrough. It's very much on the table.

Yankees Lineup and Bench: Austin Wells, Ali Sanchez, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., George Lombard Jr., Jose Caballero, Spencer Jones, Cody Bellinger, Heliot Ramos, Luis Garcia Jr., Trent Grisham, Anthony Volpe, Ryan McMahon, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge

Overloaded? Absolutely. But when you need a home run in the later innings, and both Stanton and Judge tell you they're available, who are you leaving off? Would you rather have Judge active and simmering behind the scenes, or Michael Fulmer? Ryan McMahon may very well have been the final addition here, but he's also likely to start Game 2, after all that consternation, with Fried on the bump.

Stanton and Judge have made projecting a realistic roster somewhat impossible. Both could arrive on Tuesday begging for an at-bat or two. Judge could arrive and claim he's fully healthy, ready to start in right. The Yankees have opted for theatricality plenty this season, whether it be Fried returning out of the shadows against Pittsburgh or Cole staying in for Max Muncy. This would be another example.

Or it might be all bluster, and Fulmer and Yarbs can take the bump instead of the modern-day Mantle and Maris. And what if Grisham's not ready? This leaves Amed Rosario on the outside looking in. He, too, could realistically start Game 1 against Payton Tolle.

For the first time in quite a while, the Yankees have plenty up for grabs when the roster graphic drops. This is our estimation in which they push the limits of health and viability, but they hold the cards, and they've pledged to get weird. So we did, too.

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