Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Yankees

Well, after years of thinking the current MLB model would never let it happen again, in 2024 the Yankees made a World Series. The path there was smooth enough that it surprised me. We had little to no trouble with the Royals, and though the Guardians fought hard we had their number in the end. This was a team with insane offensive power, a great rotation, a great bullpen and so many little things clicking into place that had always evaded us. The power duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, as well as the insane October abilities of Giancarlo Stanton, made the first two playoff series' insanely fun to watch.

And then we showed up to meet the Dodgers and it really wasn't gonna be close.

No matter how hard we fought, and no matter what we threw at LA, the Freeman-Betts-Ohtani trio was on and hot, and Aaron Judge had cooled down significantly. The Freeman walk-off sealed our fate, but the errors in Game 5 and the eventual comeback just slapped us out the door. Soto joining the Mets was the cruel punchline. We got what we wanted, but it couldn't last.

Will we get back there in 2025? The team certainly seems to want to. We've got Max Fried in between Cole and Rodon, Devin Williams in the ninth, Bellinger in the lineup, and probably some more reinforcements on the way. It could definitely happen, but only if we learn from 2024 and not repeat it more embarrassingly. 

Oswaldo Cabrera began the season as the surprise standout of the Yankees' lineup. The usual suspects were surging, guys like Judge and Soto and Verdugo, but Cabrera was really effective. He did eventually cool down, but Ozzie was a really nice extra piece this year, ending with 8 homers and 36 RBIs despite a .247 average. I think he had less to do once Chisholm came aboard, but he still had a nice postseason double.

2025 Prediction: Even if Cashman keeps working, I reckon there will still be an infield vacancy, and I reckon it's for Ozzie to take. He'll have another strong year, and he'll be even better at the plate. 

Trent Grisham was an extra OF piece included in the Soto deal, and I'm just gonna say it, it's weird that he's lasting longer in the Bronx than Soto did. The thing with Grisham is his defense, and he was a tremendous defensive upgrade for us when utilized. His power bat also gave us 9 homers and 30 RBIs, but with a .190 average, which is the risk you run with Grisham.

2025 Prediction: Will get a bit more starting time, and be a bit more on target at the plate.

Jon Berti was a very late offseason trade, when it became clear we'd be a little wounded in the infield. Berti's known for his solid 3B play as well as his speed on the base paths. Unfortunately Berti only played in 25 regular season games for us, but hit .273 with 18 hits, 6 RBIs, a homer and 5 steals. He also had 2 postseason hits.

2025 Prediction: So much for that. Berti will find a backup role somewhere.

The Yankees' bullpen, from almost the beginning of the season, proved virtually unhittable, and despite some missed time, Ian Hamilton was one of the main reasons behind that. Since coming over, Hamilton has become one of our best bullpen arms, and this year he was equally dominant, with a 3.82 ERA in 35 appearances. He was also great during the postseason, with 3 Ks despite giving up an earned run.

2025 Prediction: Gears back up for a full season of work, impresses. With Holmes gone there'll be room for him to come into his own more.

Additionally, perennial Yankee favorite Tommy Kahnle continued his third stint with the team this year and gave us another strong campaign. In 50 games, Kahnle had a 2.11 ERA, 46 Ks and a 0.8 WAR. In the postseason he had a 2.08 ERA with 7 Ks in 9 appearances. I'm very thankful that Kahnle's always been excellent with us, no matter what incarnation of the team he's a part of.

2025 Prediction: I wanna believe we re-sign him, but something tells me the Phillies or somebody like that will make a move.

The Yankees operated an essential six man rotation this year, made possible by Luis Gil covering for Gerrit Cole and, later, Clarke Schmidt. Yet on one or two occasions the rotation needed a seventh man, either for doubleheaders or for fill-ins for somebody missing a start. That doesn't usually speak to a high quality, and the second half seventh man, Will Warren, got his ass handed to him on a regular basis til Schmidt came back. But during the first half, we turned to former Marlins prospect and frequent IL resident Cody Poteet, who was lighting 'em up in Scranton. Poteet only got 5 appearances this year, thanks to both overflow and more injuries, and he was excellent. He had a 3-0 record, a 2.22 ERA, 16 Ks and a 1.068 WHIP. The true unsung hero of this team, and the reason why we didn't completely crumble under some rotation injuries.

2025 Prediction: The Cubs had to have liked Poteet to trade for him over a prospect. I say he makes the Opening Day rotation [thanks a lot Hayden Wesneski for leaving a spot open] and has a surprise full year as a rotation favorite. 

Jasson Dominguez's Yankee career continues to vex me. He was injured for half the season, then once he got healthy he was absolutely ripping it up in Triple-A, all while Alex Verdugo struggled. In response to cries to activate him, Aaron Boone brought Dominguez up for one game, the Little League Classic, where he was listless in one at-bat, as if to say 'see?', and sent him back down. He got 17 more games at the end of the year, where he hit .179 with 4 RBIs and 2 homers, then was used as a roster option during the postseason but didn't make any plate appearances. Boone is giving this guy what I refer to as 'the Paul Reed treatment', where literally everybody knows he should be getting games in the bigs, but the people who are in position to play are the correct people to be in that position, even if, like Alex Verdugo did in August, they suck shit. If Soto stuck around there was gonna be more of this. But next year there's at least one OF spot open, and Dominguez is being primed for it.

2025 Prediction: You're not ready. None of you are ready. Once this guy gets his mojo, and I doubt it'll take him very long in 2025, we're not gonna be missing Soto for much longer.

So that was 2024. Very wild year. Never would have thought the baseball events of the year would go like this. I didn't collect a great deal this year, and I hope to collect more next year. I have been doing more trades on TCDB, so that's filled a void, but I hope some more permanent employment will allow me to pursue card-collecting like I used to. 

I'll probably post sporadically in January and February, and then around Spring Training we'll start this madness up again. Hopefully it's a little less heartbreaking for the guys in pinstripes.