3 Yankees who won't make it to the Opening Day roster

The New York Yankees roster is largely set as the organization speeds toward Opening Day. One infielder still needs to be added to man either second or third base, but otherwise, manager Aaron Boone should know the players who will head to Spring Training with a credible chance to make the major league club.

Not everyone who heads to Florida with the Yankees should be arranging permanent accomodations in New York City. GM Brian Cashman will have several tough decisions to make about who to bring north and who to leave in the minor leagues.

Yankee fans who want to know which players they should not get overly attached to in Spring Training should dive into this list to manage their expectations.

1. Marcus Stroman

Marcus Stroman did a reasonable job of eating innings for the Yankees last season, but he's on the outside looking in at the team's starting rotation at the moment. His recent decision to unfollow the team on social media only added to speculation that he'll be playing his baseball elsewhere in 2025.

The most likely outcome for Stroman is that he'll be traded to the first team that suffers a major injury to a starting pitcher in Spring Training. His salary will turn some teams off but he's still a decent starter who has moderate upside if he gets a change in scenery.

The Yankees will be motivated to deal Stroman to free up some payroll to fill another hole on the roster. If they have to carry the veteran righty into the season they might offload him to take on more salary in trade deadline deal. Ideally, Cashman can find a taker for Stroman in time to use his salary to land an upgrade at second or third-base.

The Stroman signing hasn't worked out for Cashman but he has a chance to redeem himself if he can flip him for a useful player at another position. The odds are stacked against that right now but one injury to a prominent pitcher could boost the Yankees chances of executing a favorable trade.

2. Ben Rice

Ben Rice enjoyed some nice individual moments in the Bronx last season, but overall his rookie campaign was largely a failure. He'll enter Spring Training fighting for at-bats at first base behind new signing Paul Goldschmidt.

The problem for Rice is that DJ LeMahieu and Cody Bellinger might also be in line to get some at-bats at first to lessen the demand on their respective bodies in the field. If Rice can't seize the backup first base job for his own it's easy to envision a scenario where the Yankees send him to the minors to further work on his hitting.

Rice could also be an intriguing trade candidate for a team that's looking to roll the dice on a left-handed batter with some power. He also can offer positional versatility. Rice almost exclusively played as a catcher in the minors before being converted to first-base to help fill in for Anthony Rizzo last year.

There's an off chance that Rice can make the big league club as the Yankees' backup catcher but the organization doesn't seem to believe in his ability to thrive behind the plate. Rice was a nice story for New York last year but he could be a man without a position this year. No fans should be surprised if he starts the 2025 season in AAA.

3. Oswald Peraza

It wasn't that long ago that Oswald Peraza seemed poised to beat out Anthony Volpe to win the starting shortstop job for the Yankees out of Spring Training. Unfortunately for Peraza, his play since that untimely injury has been nothing more than mediocre.

The Yankees would love for him to rediscover his best form and win a starting infield spot this year. There's nothing about his recent play that suggests that's possible. Peraza still has a good glove but he hasn't been able to establish any sort of positive identity with the bat in his hands. His defense is not so good that he can be a non-factor on offense.

Peraza would need to outplay Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu and Jorbit Vivas to win a spot with the team coming out of Spring Training. He's a longshot, at best, to accomplish that lofty feat. Peraza looks like he'll be the latest Yankees' prized prospect to fall out of favor with the franchise. It's hard to even see any meaningful trade value for the former premium infield prospect at this stage of his career. His precipitous fall from grace with the Yankees will culminate by him failing to make the major league roster again this season.

Realistically, the best Peraza can hope for is to show enough promise to regain some fans inside the team's front office again this Spring. This might not be a make or break Spring Training for him but it's something close to that. Building any sort of momentum in Florida would represent a major step forward for Peraza. Just getting him back into contention for a big league roster spot would be a major win for the Yankees' front office.