Mar 14, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) turns a double play against the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth inning during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Yankees Opening Day 2025: Predicted Starting Lineup

Where will Aaron Judge bat? 2nd?

If there’s one way to describe the New York Yankees’ 2025 spring training, it’s this: injuries. Heartbreaking injuries. Frustrating injuries. The kind that makes you question why baseball even exists. And all of it on the back of two even bigger heartbreaks. First, the 2024 World Series – so close, so real, with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto batting one after another and Giancarlo Stanton stepping up when it mattered most. And then the offseason: Soto left. No 2024 ring. Now, Gerrit Cole is out for the season and Stanton? Who even knows anymore?

A spring full of injuries does overshadow what was, in fairness, a pretty solid offseason. But it is a real concern that the Yankees, whose current payroll is nearing $272 million, the most successful baseball team in history, are starting a season without an actual third baseman. This is not a shot at Oswaldo Cabrera, an agile, defensively strong, and consistent utility man – just an observation that it’s not exactly a perfect fit.

The headline arrivals: Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Max Fried, and Devin Williams.

Arrivals:

RHP Michael Arias (trade from Cubs)
OF Cody Bellinger (trade from Cubs)
RHP Carlos Carrasco (free agent)
RHP Roansy Contreras (waiver claim from Orioles)
RHP Fernando Cruz (trade from Reds)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (free agent)
C Alex Jackson (trade from Reds)
RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz (trade from Red Sox)
LHP Max Fried (free agent)
SS Braden Shewmake (waiver claim from Royals)
SS Andrew Velazquez (free agent)
RHP Owen White (waiver claim from Reds)
RHP Devin Williams (trade from Brewers)

Re-signings: LHP Tim Hill, RHP Jonathan Loáisiga

On the other end, some tough goodbyes: Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres gone, Clay Holmes to the Mets, and of course, Juan Soto to those Mets.

Departures:

IF Jon Berti (Cubs)
LHP Nestor Cortes (Brewers)
2B Caleb Durbin (Brewers)
RHP Clay Holmes (Mets)
RHP Tommy Kahnle (Tigers)
LHP Tim Mayza (Pirates)
C Carlos Narváez (Red Sox)
RHP Cody Poteet (Cubs)
1B Anthony Rizzo (free agent)
C Jose Trevino (Reds)
2B Gleyber Torres (Tigers)
OF Juan Soto (Mets)
RHP Lou Trivino (free agent)
OF Alex Verdugo (free agent)

ALSO READ: Zero MLB Offers for Alex Verdugo as Free Agency Period Drags On

The Yankees might not be done yet. The Sandy Alcantara rumors are still floating, though nothing feels imminent. Maybe a lower-profile move happens, but Opening Day is here, and this is how the lineup may look:

Yankees Projected Opening Day Lineup:

Austin Wells, C
Aaron Judge, RF
Cody Bellinger, CF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B
Ben Rice, DH
Jasson Dominguez, LF
Anthony Volpe, SS
Oswaldo Cabrera, 3B

Carlos Rodón takes the mound against the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta at Yankee Stadium on March 27.

ALSO READ: Red Sox’s Alex Cora Defends Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Amid Constant Criticism

Here we go again.

Aaron Judge

Opening Day 2025

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

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Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.