Opening Day is just over a week away but the Yankees’ roster isn’t finalized. These five players are still fighting for their Major League lives.
The Yankees don’t have a ton of big roster decisions to make ahead of Opening Day, but there’s still some uncertainty lurking on the fringes of the big league roster. The few days remaining in Spring Training still mean a lot to a few players trying to make sure they break camp and head north to the Bronx.
Overlooking these sorts of decisions would be a big mistake by Yankees fans. The compressed early-season schedule is going to place more pressure on benches and bullpens than normal. The extra roster spots permitted by MLB will help ease some of that pressure, but it still makes selecting the right players at the back end of the roster more critical than normal.
New York will have plenty of time to make in-season moves to tweak their roster as the season chugs along, but the Opening Day roster is still important. Here are five players still scratching and clawing to start the year in the big leagues.
5. Albert Abreu
It might surprise some Yankees fans to learn that Abreu is now 26 years of age. In other words, it’s time for him to turn his potential into production in the majors.
The fact that he’s out of minor league options will work in his favor in terms of making the Opening Day roster. That, combined with Aaron Boone’s need for extra arms early in the season will give him a chance to show he’s worthy of sticking with the big league club for the foreseeable future. Abreu is a good bet to start his campaign in the Bronx but he needs to pitch well if he wants to avoid being designated for assignment in favor of a superior option later in the year.