2024 American League East Preview (Spoiler: Red Sox Not Winning World Series)

New York Yankees

O/U 93.5

Some people walk their dog with an air of superiority. As if their dog is some prize-winning canine. Last year’s Yankees lost Aaron Judge for all of June and July and finished 82–80, missing the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Over the winter, they traded for three outfielders: the lethal Juan Soto, former Red Sox enigma Alex Verdugo and the streaky, strikeout-prone Trent Grisham. The Yankees relinquished three MLB-ready pitchers for Soto. Michael King, Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez. These three guys are currently penciled in as the 3rd, 4th and 5th starters in San Diego’s rotation. I can’t recall any deal in which three potential MLB-ready starters went from one team to another. Of course, last year those three started 27 times combined, and pitched only 130, 90 and 27 MLB innings. The deal shows how badly the Padres needed healthy arms, as well as how valuable Juan Soto is..and he’s only under contract for this year.

With the long-term contract trend, Soto could easily surpass 12 years and 500m in a deal next winter. Soto will hit 2nd, in front of Aaron Judge. Opposing pitchers might be best served to walk both and face Anthony Rizzo and Gleybar Torres with runners on.

The Yankees have revamped their lineup around Aaron Judge, while adding ground-ball machine Marcus Stroman to a two year deal. The rotation projects to be: Gerritt…