When the Yankees began the season with a 5-9 record, I feared the worst. I figured the first season of the current window of opportunity would be wasted by injuries and with Mike Tauchman batting fifth, Gio Urshela as the everyday third baseman, Austin Romine and Kyle Highashioka behind the plate and Tyler Wade playing all over the field, it made sense to assume that. The Yankees were putting another regular starting position player on the injured list seemingly every other day and the Rays couldn’t lose.

Somehow the Replacement Yankees didn’t just keep the season afloat in terms of the postseason picture and division race for the first two months of the season, they put the team at the top of the division, winning 10 of 11 series since that horrendous start. Urshela became an actual asset; Tauchman and Wade were sent back down; Thairo Estrada emerged as a real potential piece for the future; Romine went back to being a mediocre backup; Cameron Maybin proved he can still play and the starting rotation and elite relievers did the rest.

I will never forget the 2019 Replacement Yankees, I just don’t want to have to watch them all season. Thankfully, I won’t. Didi Gregorius is close to returning, Aaron Judge is about to begin swinging and Giancarlo Stanton is scheduled to begin baseball activities again at the end of this week (barring yet another setback for yet another different injury). On the pitching side, the Yankees are getting James Paxton back on Wednesday, Dellin Betances has been throwing and Luis Severino has been pain free for two to three weeks and is set to start throwing on flat ground soon. Unfortunately, Miguel Andujar won’t play again this season, and therefore the 2019 Yankees won’t play a single game with their expected lineup for the season.

As the Yankees get healthy, some tough decisions will have to be made about who gets sent down, who gets designated for assignment and then who plays once the dust settles from all the roster moves. Let’s figure out what the Yankees’ 25-man roster will look like in the coming weeks.

Didi Gregorius Returns, Thairo Estrada Gets Sent Down
It’s hard not to envision a middle infield for the next nearly decade with Estrada and Gleyber Torres. That would mean the end of Gregorius as a Yankee, but that’s not that unreasonable, considering Gregorius is coming off a major surgery, will be a free agent at the end of the season, will be 30 on Opening Day next season and LeMahieu is signed through next season and could serve as an insurance policy or bridge. However, the Yankees love Gregorius, he’s an elite shortstop both offensively and defensively and he’s a left-handed bat. There’s a chance Estrada could eventually mean the end of Gregorius’s Yankees tenure, but for now it’s the other way around.

Estrada did nothing wrong to deserve this demotion. Despite appearing in only 22 games over 38 days, all Estrada did was hit and hit and hit some more. He’s played left field for the first time ever out of necessity, as well as second and short, while serving as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. He’s batting .304/.347/.565 and it seems unfair someone with a .912 OPS in the majors is headed back to long bus rides in the minors. There’s been little playing time for Estrada as is as he’s had only three more plate appearances in 22 games with the Yankees than he did in 10 games in Triple-A, so he’ll go down, play every day and be the first infielder back up should another injury present itself.

Giancarlo Stanton Returns, Cameron Maybin Gets Designated for Assignment
I don’t know if Stanton will return before Judge, but I’m going to assume it since his current injury is less severe and he’s less removed from baseball activities. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if Judge beats Stanton back.

I wouldn’t do this move, it just seems like the most likely. When Stanton returns, the Yankees will have Stanton (or Judge if he’s back before Stanton), Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner and Maybin on the roster, and it’s hard to think they will keep five outfielders on the 25-man roster, even if all five are better roster options than bat-only Kendrys Morales, whose bat isn’t exactly enough to warrant a major league roster spot.

Maybin, like Estrada has done nothing to deserve being removed from the roster. He has come up with big hits, unbelievable catches and has been a breath of fresh air on the bases. I have said both in jest and serious at times that I would keep Maybin even over Brett Gardner though that would never happen. Maybin has proven to the rest of baseball he can still play, and if’s not as a Yankee, I have to think one of the other 29 teams will make a play for him. Once Maybin is off the Yankees’ 25-man, the Yankees will lose him.

Aaron Judge Returns, Kendrys Morales Gets Designed for Assignment
I would get rid of Morales before Maybin, but that’s not going to happen. Between the crowded outfield once Stanton (or Judge) returns, Morales being a left-handed bat and an experienced veteran, whose clubhouse presence throughout his whole career has been raved about, he’s going to hold on to his roster spot for as long as it’s possible.

We’ll always have that mammoth blast from Morales, which nearly reached the upper deck in Yankee Stadium, something that has been accomplish only a few times. It’s going to take a miracle or a complete turnaround for Morales to remain on the Yankees and avoid losing his second major league roster spot this season after the A’s previously designated him for assignment before trading him to the Yankees. The Yankees have enough players to serve as the designated hitter that there’s just no way they will keep Morales on the 25-man hitting the way he has. One day we will all look back and think “Remember when Kendrys Morales was on the Yankees?” the same way we do for Kevin Youkilis, Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells, who were all Yankees in the same season. Wow was that 2013 season miserable.

Sometime between now and the All-Star break, the Yankees could be at full strength or at as full strength as possible now since Andujar is out for the season, and then they will have a whole new problem about who plays and who bats where in the lineup. If there aren’t any injuries between now and then (knock on all the wood), the Yankees’ 25-man roster would look like this:

Gary Sanchez
Austin Romine
Luke Voit
DJ LeMahieu
Gleyber Torres
Didi Gregorius
Gio Urshela
Brett Gardner
Aaron Hicks
Aaron Judge
Giancarlo Stanton
Clint Frazier
Luis Severino
Masahiro Tanaka
James Paxton
J.A. Happ
Domingo German
CC Sabathia
Aroldis Chapman
Dellin Betances
Adam Ottavino
Zack Britton
Tommy Kahnle
Chad Green
Jonathan Holder

If the Yankees could go 35-19 overall and 30-10 in their last 40 to achieve first place in the best division in baseball with the replacement roster they have had to use for the first two months of the season, what will they do with that 25-man roster? I look forward to finding out.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is available!

The Giancarlo Stanton injury saga has taken another turn. The Yankees’ highest-paid player, who went on the injured list on April 1 with a biceps strain still hasn’t returned. The biceps strain, which shut him down, became a shoulder strain, which shut him down, and now he has a calf strain, which has shut him down yet again.

The Giancarlo Stanton injury saga has taken another turn. The Yankees’ highest-paid player, who went on the injured list on April 1 with a biceps strain still hasn’t returned. The biceps strain, which shut him down, became a shoulder strain, which shut him down, and now he has a calf strain, which has shut him down yet again.

How did we get here? Let’s go through it all.

On April 1, Stanton went on the injured list with a biceps strain. He told reporters he hurt himself swinging at a 3-1 pitch during his third at-bat on March 31. He winced and wiggled his arm after the swing, but thought it might be a cramp so he remained in the game. The following day, he said he hoped for a “speedy” recovery.

“I don’t like it at all,” Stanton said on April 1. “I just worked for six weeks to get here, plus the offseason. I’d much rather this would have popped in spring training, but it’s where we’re at. I don’t have to start from scratch when I come back, but I’ve just got to build everything up and make sure everything is ready to go when I’m back.”

Yet another injured Yankee at the time, and yet another injured Yankee, who initially thought he would be out for the minimal injured list time of 10 days and wouldn’t have to build completely back up.

“In the middle of the game, you’ve got your adrenaline pumping,” Stanton said. “You want to stay out there. Once you’ve settled down and get undressed and showered, that’s when your gauges are a little better. Things start tightening up if they’re not right.”

At the time, the Yankees were without Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius in the lineup. Stanton would also be joined by Miguel Andujar on the injured list that day, and four of the nine regular everyday players would be missing after three games.

“Especially how last year went, a bunch of us were down,” Stanton said. “We didn’t really have our full squad the whole year. All that goes into it, especially where we’re at now. It’s unfortunate right now. I guess it’s better to be in the beginning than the end of the year.”

Aaron Boone said Stanton would be completely shut down for 10 days before beginning to work his way back.

“Hopefully we get him back at some point this month,” Boone said.

Just like the situation with Hicks, Aaron Boone was fooled into thinking the injury would be nothing more than a minor thing. On April 2, Jon Heyman reported the “Yankees are hopeful Stanton can be back in three weeks.”

On April 9, it was reported Stanton might hit off a tee the following day (April 10) or the day after that (April 11).

Five days later, on April 14, Stanton said his rehab for his left biceps strain is “on track,” but was unsure of when he would return, while also saying he stills feels the strain “a little bit.” He took swings the day before (April 13) for the second time since suffering the injury though had yet to swing at 100 percent. Asked if he would need a rehab game, he said he wouldn’t.

“At this point, I wouldn’t need one,” Stanton said. “But if I’m out three or four weeks, I probably should.”

The Yankees were in Anaheim on April 22 in the middle of a nine-game, 10-day West Coast trip when they announced Stanton was now dealing with a shoulder issue and would see a specialist in Southern California. He would receive a cortisone shot in his shoulder that day. The biceps injury had healed and now there was a shoulder injury to deal with.

“He’s had some shoulder stuff in the past,” Boone said in Anaheim. “I don’t know if it’s a little bit of a result of that. We figured now while he’s down coming from this, let’s just make sure we treat this the best we can so it doesn’t become a lingering issue if we can help it.”

Stanton had a shoulder injury with the Marlins back in 2013, but that was six years ago. For Boone to hint it could be related to that and then say he doesn’t want this to be a lingering issue, wouldn’t a six-year-old shoulder injury popping up be the exact definition of a “lingering issue”?

“He has had some residual stuff with his shoulder,” Boone said. “He got a shot, here a couple of days ago. So he is in Day 2 or 3 of not swinging.”

Stanton would remain in Southern California to work with a rehab specialist, while the team went on to San Francisco for a three-game weekend series. Stanton would then rejoin the team in Arizona the following week.

“We’ve got to let the shot settle, and that’s probably another day or two of no swinging,” Boone said. “Then he should be able to ramp up pretty quick and start swinging when we get to Arizona.”

On May 6, five days after the team had left Arizona, Stanton spoke to the media for the first time since the shoulder issue was reported and gave the vaguest of answers in regards to the mysterious injury.

“Just give it some extra time,” Stanton said. “The biceps blowing out, the whole arm had to get strength to build with each other. Just give it more time.”

Stanton had clearly been informed of the Yankees’ new media strategy of not giving any sense of a target return date after the debacle that began last July with Aaron Judge’s wrist injury and continued this season with various missed timetables and missed diagnosis.

“I don’t know,” Stanton said in reference to a timetable for his return. “Start swinging again and then go from there.”

Clearly annoyed with the questions, Stanton continued to be vague.

“Just going to ramp it up and see how it goes,” Stanton said. “So there’s no major update for you guys.”

The same “ramp it up” Boone spoked about 11 days earlier? When asked another time in a different way to try to pull an answer from him, Stanton didn’t budge.

“No major update for you guys,” Stanton said. “Hit tomorrow, then go from there.”

Stanton did begin to hit, and on May 11, Boone offered an update.

“Reports are it went pretty well yesterday,” Boone said. “He hit a fair amount.”

On May 13, Stanton took live at-bats for the first time and was going to do the same the following day. He’s at the Yankees’ Player Development complex in Tampa hitting off live pitching and performing defensive drills. Brian Cashman said Stanton was “progressing” while Boone gave the weirdest injury update of all time to MLB.com.

“Just not quite right,” Boone said regarding Stanton’s shoulder. “I don’t know the exact diagnosis of it. He’s through the biceps injury, but there has just been that lingering shoulder stuff that he’s trying to get knocked out. Basically, it’s just coming back from that now and ramping up.”

Another “ramping up” reference! Boone continued and said there’s no tear in his shoulder though that doesn’t mean there isn’t one given the Yankees’ diagnosis of their players this season.

“No, it’s just … whatever,” Boone said. “I mean, guys have different stuff going on with their … and he’s got … I don’t know what exactly is going on in there other than it’s obviously not exactly right or else he would have been back a bit ago.”

A “whatever”? Is that the official diagnosis for the left shoulder injury of a player owed $270 million, who originally went on the injured list with a biceps issue?

“Moving in the right direction,” Boone continued. “I think he had like nine at-bats yesterday and more of the same today, doing hsi defensive work and running. So I feel like hopefully he’s moving to really start to get some at-bats and we can start thinking about getting him back.”

Pressed for a more detailed answer, Boone was asked if this whole situation was unusual.

“Right, and he doesn’t have a perfect shoulder by any means,” Boone said. “He’s dealt with varying degreees of just a dead period or some soreness in there and whatnot. As far as a diagnosis of what exactly it is, I don’t have it for you.”

To that point, the manager of the New York Yankees had been without his highest-paid player for exactly a month and a half and hadn’t been informed of the player’s injury and diagnosis. An injury which popped up despite the player already being on the injured list for a different injury, and the different injury originally had a timetable of an April return.

On May 16, Stanton was hit by a pitch on the knee while taking live batting practice. Four days later, on May 20, Stanton played in a rehab game in High-A and homered in the game.

The following day (May 21), Stanton was scratched from his rehab game. Boone called the scratch “precautionary” and everyone thought it had to do with the hit by pitch on his knee five days earlier.

“It’s hard to pin down exactly what happened,” Boone said. ” In talking to G, he feels like it’s a result of that [hit by pitch]. It’s where he got hit on the knee/calf. So not sure exactly, but that’s kind of his feeling on what happened.”

Boone was wrong once again. The scratch wasn’t “precautionary” and the following day (May 22), the Yankees announced Stanton would be shut down for a week to 10 days and returned to the injured list with what is being called a “mild calf strain”.

“There’s a lot of season left for Stanton to impact,” Boone said. “Good news is at least it seems somewhat minor in the grand scheme of things.”

Minor? There’s no injury that has been minor with the 2019 Yankees, let alone Stanton who has now suffered two subsequent injuries to his initial injury despite not playing.

“Obviously we want G back, and I know he wants to be here — yesterday,” Boone said. “It’s a bump in the road, but hopefully it’s not something that keeps him down very long, and he gets ramped back up.”

Another “ramp” reference!

“Once he’s cleared again,” Boone said, “It should go very quickly.”

That line from Boone all but assured Yankees fans it won’t go quickly, as the Yankees manager and the organization have missed on every injury timetable dating back to Aaron Judge’s broken wrist last season.

This season, the Yankees were uninformed about Luis Severino’s lat injury; they wildly missed their timetable of Aaron Hicks’s spring training injury; they sat Gary Sanchez in Houston with a leg issue only to have him enter the game as a pinch hitter before putting him on the injured list the following day; they let Clint Frazier play the remaining three innings of a game after he sprained his ankle and had it taped before putting him on the injured list, they recently put Miguel Andujar back on the injured list for the labrum tear they said he was ready to play with earlier this month only to then have him undergo season-ending surgery. So no, I don’t believe Stanton’s rehab will “go very quickly” once he’s no longer shut down.

No one knows when Stanton will actually be back and given the way the 2019 Yankees have handled injuries with missed timetables and uneducated updates, no one should expect to know when he will really be back. Thankfully, the Replacement Yankees continue to win games because the Replacement Yankees are more and more becoming the actual Yankees.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is available!

It wasn’t too long ago the Yankees skipped Domingo German’s start in the rotation upon CC Sabathia’s return. The Yankees wanted to get Sabathia back in the rotation and thought it made the most sense to keep Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ on schedule, so they sent the 26-year-old German to the bullpen, disregarding his 1.64 ERA and two wins in his first two starts. They chose to go with the established arms and the ones making German’s salary per start, taking into account a small sample size of success for German. German pitched out of the bullpen for his third appearance of the season on April 13, relieving Sabathia in his season debut and picking up the win with two scoreless innings against the White Sox.

Less than six weeks later, the Yankees wouldn’t even think about skipping German in the rotation as that small sample size of success has grown into nearly one-third of a season of success. After beating the Orioles on Tuesday night, German is now 9-1 with a 2.60 ERA, 0.976 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings. He appears to be over the control issues that plagued him in the past as his hits per nine innings is down from last season (8.5 to 6.2) as is his walks per nine (3.5 to 2.6). The strikeouts per nine are down as well (10.7 to 9.3), though if a drop in strikeout rate means a vast improvement for the other two, so be it. German has kept the ball in the park, allowing only five home runs in 55 2/3 innings and giving up just 14 extra-base hits to the 223 batters he’s faced. His filthy repertoire and swing-and-miss stuff has taken him to another level this season, and for someone who quit baseball not that long ago, I’m grateful he changed his mind and returned to the game.

German has looked like a different, more confident pitcher in 2019, and as a Yankees fan, I feel different and more confident when it’s his turn to pitch. There’s no longer worrying if you’re going to get the German who can no-hit the Indians for six innings or the German who can take the Yankees out of the game before they even come to bat for the first time. German’s only “bad” start of the season came on April 28 in San Francisco when he allowed four earned runs in six innings. All four of those runs came in his final inning of work and prior to that he had one-hit the Giants for the first five. Even in this “bad” start, he managed to pick up the win.

Eight of German’s 10 starts have come against some of the lesser teams in the league (Tigers, Orioles, White Sox, Royals, Angels and Giants), but in another season in which most of the league is tanking and simply not trying to win or be competitive, the majority of any pitcher’s starts are going to come against teams below .500. In German’s other two starts, he shut down the first-place Twins (6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and beat the first-place-at-the-time Rays at the Trop.

I would much rather have a healthy Luis Severino than no Luis Severino at all, but the only reason German is part of the rotation this season is because of Severino’s shoulder injury. Without Severino’s absence, German would have started the year in the bullpen or worse and his career-changing season wouldn’t exist. Instead, he’s filled in for Severino by pitching as if it’s Severino in the rotation.

I don’t know what will happen if and when Severino returns and the whole rotation is healthy. That’s certainly a big “if” when your rotation boasts the injury history of Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton, who’s already injured, the knee of CC Sabathia and the always-durable J.A. Happ, who’s now 36 years old and has performance issues. In an ideal world, the Yankees would get a healthy Severino back and have six capable starters for five rotation spots and would have to choose between sending one of them to the bullpen or going with a six-man rotation. I would go with the six-man rotation to keep German or the others in the rotation and also to give them all an extra day rest each time through. However, that scenario is a long ways away, and chances are whether because of injury or performance, it will never be an actual scenario.

German has not only earned himself a roster and rotation spot no matter what happens later in the season, he’s earned himself a bid for the AL All-Star team, possibly even the game’s starter, if he’s able to keep pitching at or near his current level for the second half of the first half. From a Yankees fan’s perspective, he’s earned himself a postseason start, moving past Happ and Sabathia on the depth chart. Even if we’re four-plus months from thinking about that, it’s still going to be thought about.

It has been reported German is pitching with an innings limit or cap this season. While that might be understandable in past seasons, it isn’t this season. Not in the real first season of a championship window. Not when other rotation options are either banged up or underperforming. Not when the Yankees have proven time and time again they have no idea how to handle pitchers and prevent injuries. An extra day of rest here and there is fine, but there shouldn’t be any skipped starts or bullpen relegation to protect him. Pitchers can’t be protected and I’m unsure if the Yankees will ever learn this. German needs to pitch and he needs to continue to start.

In a season full of unexpected heroes, Domingo German has been the most important one for the Yankees. I don’t know where the Yankees would be right now in the standings without him. Thankfully, I don’t have to know.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

The Yankees had to have J.A. Happ. Not because he was the best pitcher available on the free-agent market, but because they passed on the best pitcher available on the free-agent market. Patrick Corbin was that best pitcher on the free-agent market and would have only cost money, and the Yankees chose to pass on the 29-year-old left-handed New York native and Yankees fan. They forced themselves into needing to have Happ.

Not only did they force themselves into a situation where they had to sign Happ, they had to do it on his terms. The Yankees only wanted to sign the 36-year-old to a two-year deal, but he wanted three, and once Corbin was off the board, the Yankees were in no position to hold on their stance, eventually caving to Happ’s third-year demand. I wanted Happ back, after the team passed on Corbin. I thought it made sense to bring Happ back, after the team passed on Corbin. He wasn’t the best free-agent option, he was the best option once the best option was no longer available.

At the time, I wrote, “I’m not scared of Happ’s age or the diminishing spin rate on his fastball (at least not yet).” Well, I am now.

Happ hasn’t been bad this season, he’s been awful. Luis Severino was bad for most of the second half of last season, Sonny Gray was awful last season. That’s the difference. I thought the Yankees ridded themselves of a Gray-like problem for 2019, but Happ has stepped up and filled in seamlessly for the former Yankee bust.

Monday’s night disastrous start in Baltimore was Happ’s fourth start against the last-place Orioles this season, and the third time he has failed to go even 4 2/3 innings against them. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his latest flop, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and walk, while striking out three and giving up another pair of home runs. His total line against the Orioles this season: 17 IP, 24 H, 15 R, 15 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 7 HR, 7.94 ERA, 1.824 WHIP. Thankfully, the Yankees came back from a 6-1 deficit to win 10-7 and didn’t waste what should have been an easy win over a much inferior opponent, but that doesn’t change the fact that Happ is the first-place Yankees’ biggest problem.

Happ’s 5.16 ERA and 13 home runs allowed in 52 2/3 innings tells a lot of the story though not all of it. I hate the stat and term “quality start” because it rewards pitchers with a 4.50 ERA, but a 4.50 ERA right now for Happ would be welcome. In his 10 starts, only three of them have been “quality” as he has failed to pitch five innings in four of them and failed to pitch six innings in seven of them. Thanks to the opposition’s equally bad pitching in his starts, the Yankees are 7-3 though that record is more about the level of competition Happ has faced since only two of his starts were against teams .500 or better. He’s not only taking the team out of games and forcing the offense to pick him up, he’s destroying the bullpen and with each game tied to the next, a reliever might be unavailable one game because he had to step in and record outs for Happ the game before.

I don’t know where the guy the Yankees traded for at last season’s deadline is. Where is the Happ who went 7-0 in 11 starts with a 2.69 ERA and 1.052 WHIP? Where is the Happ who created a month-long conversation over whether or not he should pitch the one-game playoff instead of Severino? Where is the Happ who Yankees fans felt confident with every time it was his turn to pitch? The last time we saw that Happ was before Game 1 of the ALDS, before he went out and ruined that game just three batters in. Since then, Happ has looked every bit like a 36-year-old pitcher who relies on his low-90s fastball command to succeed, and when he doesn’t have it, there’s no finding it.

If this is the end of the road for this version of Happ then he has four-plus months to sit down with CC Sabathia and find out how to reinvent himself with breaking balls and offspeed pitches and avoid the type of career drought Sabathia endured when his fastball left him. I don’t think Happ will be afforded the endless chances Sabathia was given for three seasons, especially in the middle of a championship window and with the margin of error for winning the division over the Rays and Red Sox being so small.

The Yankees are stuck with Happ for this season and the next two. With Severino and James Paxton on the injured list and the pitching depth depleted with Jonathan Loaisiga also injured, there’s nowhere to turn and no answer to the Yankees’ worrisome pitching problem other than to have Happ turn it around.

“We won in spite of me tonight,” Happ said on Monday night, looking lost as he answered questions as to why he continues to get knocked around each time he takes the mound. “Tonight was just a tough one and I don’t know that I have an answer for it. They hit the bad pitches, they hit the good pitches, and I just got beat tonight. My plan is to get bitter and figure it out.”

The Yankees have won in spite of Happ a few times this season, though he’s right, he needs to figure it out. The Yankees don’t have any other options other than to give him the ball every five days and let him find the answer.

The Yankees need the J.A. Happ they traded for and the one they thought they were bringing back through free agency. Without him, avoiding the one-game playoff for the fourth time in five seasons is going to be impossible.

***

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!