Yankees Opening Day Roster Prediction 2.0: What Changes After Jose Trevino Trade

With less than a week to go until Opening Day, here's one more prediction of who makes the Yankees' 28-man roster to start the season.

TAMPA — If you're like us and already made a prediction as to which 28 players will make the Yankees' Opening Day roster, let's hope you used pencil.

New York made a trade on Saturday night, a move sending a member of their bullpen to Texas in exchange for some depth at the catcher position. 

The Yankees acquired veteran backstop Jose Trevino in the three-player swap, a transaction that sent right-handed reliever Albert Abreu to the Rangers. 

Saturday's move came as a surprise, but you could also see the writing on the wall.  Abreu is out of minor league options, a clear obstacle for a team that will need to shuffle their pitching staff early this season to ensure everyone builds up safely.

Meanwhile, with catcher Ben Rortvedt expected to start the regular season on the injured list, New York was going to open the season with either Rob Brantly, Max McDowell or David Freitas as Kyle Higashioka's backup if they didn't make a move. Now, they have a veteran they can trust, an expert at framing behind the plate.

Factoring in the subtraction of Abreu and addition of Trevino, along with some minor alterations, here's an updated version of our prediction for who will don pinstripes at Yankee Stadium when the season begins next week.

Again, as was mentioned last time around, this is subject to change. The Yankees still have three more Grapefruit League games on their schedule before they head north. That's plenty of time for a pitcher to earn a spot, a player to get injured or another move to be made.

New York Yankees Opening Day Roster Prediction 2.0

Here's an updated prediction for the Yankees' 28-man roster following the Jose Trevino and Albert Abreu trade with the Texas Rangers

Catchers

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• Kyle Higashioka

• Jose Trevino

With Trevino, there's no need to choose from the other internal options at Yankees camp. Brantly, McDowell and Freitas were all playing well this spring—good enough to catch the coaching staff's attention—but you can't compete with Trevino's experience and defensive skillset.

Trevino was tied for the third among all qualifying catchers last season in Statcast's framing metric (Catcher Framing Runs). He produced 8 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) over 713 innings behind the dish, per FanGraphs.

Having that kind of defender available on the bench is a security blanket both late in games and on days where Higashioka—who has clubbed seven home runs in nine games this spring—needs to rest. Plus, New York won't have to rush Rortvedt back and can allow the former Twins catcher to focus on improving his offensive production before his Yankee debut down the road.

Jose Trevino, Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt were all among the top 30 in Statcast's Catcher Framing Leaderboard last season (minimum 750 pitches called).

That's a massive organizational upgrade on defense at an incredibly important position.

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 2, 2022

Infielders

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• Anthony Rizzo

• DJ LeMahieu

• Gleyber Torres

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa

• Josh Donaldson

• Marwin Gonzalez

No changes here. The Yankees will still need to deal with their surplus of infielders when the regular season begins, a direct result (and repercussion) of their roster construction this past offseason.

As of right now, DJ LeMahieu will start the season on the bench just like he did in 2019. Manager Aaron Boone needs to find a way to get LeMahieu's bat (and glove) in the lineup on a day-to-day basis. When he's locked in offensively, he is arguably New York's best hitter.

Marwin Gonzalez has played his way into a spot this spring as well. He's even flashed some promise defensively at shortstop, giving Boone another option as Isiah Kiner-Falefa's backup other than Gleyber Torres (who moved from short back to second base this winter).

Outfielders

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• Aaron Judge

• Giancarlo Stanton

• Aaron Hicks

• Joey Gallo

• Tim Locastro

I was about to publish this story without Tim Locastro on here, adding an additional pitcher later on, but I can't see the Yankees starting the year with a three-man bench.

That puts a whole lot of pressure on Giancarlo Stanton to play in the outfield multiple days per week while leaving Gonzalez as the only other asset off the bench in a utility role.

Manager Aaron Boone recently spoke about the possibility of starting the season with 12 position players, telling reporters that he'd "love" a four-man bench instead. Obviously having a deep bullpen is important, easing the entire pitching staff into what's poised to be a long season after a shortened spring, but Abreu's departure opens the door for another hurler to make the team that can provide length.

Aaron Boone on possibly starting season with three-man bench:

"With Giancarlo, that's a fourth outfielder and then that extra guy can be a guy that plays everywhere. So, I mean, it's not ideal. I'd love a four-man bench, and we may end up going that way, but we'll see."

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 1, 2022

Remember, Locastro is on the 40-man roster and is one of the fastest players in the sport. This team will be striving to utilize their improved athleticism early and often. Having Locastro available off the bench, ready to play all three outfield spots in a pinch, is valuable for this ball club.

Starting Pitchers

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• Gerrit Cole

• Luis Severino

• Jordan Montgomery

• Jameson Taillon

• Nestor Cortes

The rotation is set.

Gerrit Cole will pitch Opening Day after his 64-pitch outing against the Tigers on Friday.

Luis Severino will follow in Game 2. He looked as sharp as ever on Saturday afternoon, throwing four scoreless frames against the Braves.

From there, Jordan Montgomery will close out the Red Sox series before Jameson Taillon and Nestor Cortes will make their first starts of the season, facing Toronto.

Relievers

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• Aroldis Chapman

• Jonathan Loáisiga

• Chad Green

• Clay Holmes

• Wandy Peralta

• Lucas Luetge

• Michael King

• Joely Rodríguez

These eight relievers are locks for the Opening Day roster.

The real question is who gets the nod in the final two spots...

Extra Two Roster Spots

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• Manny Bañuelos

• Ron Marinaccio

This is the part of the roster that I grappled with the most. A case can be made for as many as seven different pitchers for these two spots.

For instance, right-hander Luis Gil was stellar last season when he got his first taste of pitching in the big leagues. Wouldn't you want him looming in the bullpen to start the year? The same can be said for fellow prospects Clarke Schmidt and Deivi García. They're both on the 40-man roster as well and have pitched at the big-league level before.

I think those three will begin the season in Triple-A, though. Boone has made it clear this spring that the organization views those prospects as starters. Therefore, it'll be best for their development to maintain a starter's workload, honing their skills while pitching every five days.

Clarke Schmidt is as confident as ever this spring, striving to secure a full-time role with the #Yankees.

"I've been a prospect for so long. I'm ready to drop that title and move on to the next part of my career, being an everyday major leaguer."https://t.co/sSqkTvTjMz

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 2, 2022

I'll put JP Sears in that same category. The southpaw is also being built up as a starter this spring and while he pitched in relief in Double-A at times last year, all of his 10 appearances in Triple-A came as a starter (7-0 record, 2.87 ERA).

That's not to say those starters won't make it up to the Majors in 2022. Having rotation depth at the ready in Triple-A is going to be key when injuries and unforeseen circumstances eventually come across Boone's desk.

Ron Marinaccio has been impressive this spring, flashing the stuff that led to dominant numbers in 2021. Sure, he hasn't made his MLB debut yet, but there's a reason why he had a 14.2 strikeout-per-nine ratio in the minor leagues a year ago. His arsenal should translate right away, filling the role Abreu left behind.

Finally, it's a blast from the past for New York's 28th roster spot.

Manny Bañuelos was once the best pitching prospect in this organization. A decade later, he's back with the Yankees and he's been tremendous across the board this spring. The lefty has thrown six scoreless innings in Grapefruit League play so far, striking out seven.

Manny Bañuelos tonight:

3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 33 P

Bañuelos this spring:

3 G, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 7 SO, 0 BB pic.twitter.com/q88SykWnZu

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 30, 2022

It'll take an extra roster move (since Bañuelos isn't on the 40-man), but the Yankees showed last year—with Lucas Luetge—that they won't shy away from rewarding a veteran with a roster spot after a strong spring. Look how that worked out as Luetge figures to be a key contributor in this bullpen in 2022.

Bañuelos can make a spot start or pitch multiple innings in relief. It doesn't hurt to add another left-hander to the 'pen as well.

MORE:

• Yankees Acquire Catcher Jose Trevino From Rangers in Trade For Reliever Albert Abreu
• Gerrit Cole 'Ready to Go' For Opening Day Despite Shortened Spring
• MLB Insider Predicts What Aaron Judge's Extension Might Look Like With Yankees

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