The New York Yankees entered the offseason with a glaring weakness: the outfield.
They immediately went to work and brought in three outfielders in the span of 36 hours: Alex Verdugo, Juan Soto, and Trent Grisham.
All of them are starting-caliber and left-handed hitters, ideal for the Yankees lineup.
Accommodating all of them on the field could be tricky, though.
The projected starting outfield would be Soto – Judge – Verdugo.
None of them is a real, natural center fielder, though.
That’s why the Yankees will need to use Judge there, according to general manager Brian Cashman.
Brian Cashman said that Aaron Judge would be the Yankees every day center fielder if the season began today pic.twitter.com/SEaGfWwou8
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 7, 2023
If the season started today, Judge would be the center fielder.
It’s a rather risky move considering he suffered torn ligaments in his toe in June, an injury that took nearly two months out of his season.
However, Judge has played the position before with success and the toe, according to the team, is no longer an issue.
In 932.2 career innings in center, Judge has -1 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 3 Outs Above Average (OAA).
Those are decent numbers, suggesting he can hold his own there to accommodate the ideal offensive lineup.
Grisham, a natural center fielder, could start a couple of games per week and serve as a defensive replacement when he doesn’t.
The Yankees will try to find a way, but one thing is clear: their offense should be much better this time.
It could come at the expense of some defense, but that’s a secondary issue in relation to the struggles the team had scoring runs in 2023.
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