3 Yankees players who'll be better in 2023, and 2 who won't

3 Yankees players who’ll be better in 2023, and 2 who won’t

By Tim Boyle | Feb 11, 2023

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 23: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees looks on before batting in the second inning against the Houston Astros in game four of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 23, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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Josh Donaldson looks on pace to decline even more in what could be his swan song season. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Why Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson will not be better in 2023

When did the Yankees get so old, so quickly? Third baseman Josh Donaldson is one of those aging former stars. Now 37, year one with the Yankees was a major disappointment.

The 2015 MVP season Donaldson put together is a distant memory at this point. Even his monstrous 2019 campaign with the Atlanta Braves feels like it happened closer to when the pyramids were built than today. Donaldson struggled in his two seasons with the Minnesota Twins but took a bigger downswing last year with New York.

In 546 plate appearances, we saw Donaldson hit .222/.308/.374. He hit only 15 home runs after a season of delivering 26 to the Twins. Every number of Donaldson’s dropped except for strikeouts which went way up. He had nearly the same amount of trips to the plate in 2021 as he did in 2022. Although he had only 7 fewer hits, Donaldson walked 20 less times and struck out 34 more.

Donaldson’s lack of power is alarming. If there was one thing we could have expected from him, it would have been that. Unfortunately, it looks like the Twins won this trade. It led to them signing Carlos Correa last year and him returning to Minnesota earlier in 2023.

Likely the last year of Donaldson’s stay with the Yankees, it won’t be any better than it was in 2022.

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