The New York Yankees have been notoriously more frugal than ever before this past winter, and the strategy is beginning to harshly bite back.
In what has been an absolutely miserable couple of weeks in the injury department, the Yankees are now set to be without their starting third baseman and their designated hitter for the foreseeable future, not to mention the potential disaster brewing in the starting rotation as well.
With less than three weeks to go until the season, New York is set to role out a lineup that will not be capable of competing with the American League let alone trying to avenge their World Series defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Despite the uncertainty in virtually all areas, it doesn’t sound like the Yankees at this point are inclined to do anything meaningful about it.
The top free agent remaining is likely former New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers designated hitter J.D. Martinez.
Though the hitting specialist is a perfect fit and would be able to help New York tremendously, it was reported this week the team is unable — or more likely unwilling — to spend the money on even just the reasonable one-year contract he would command.
With a new update surrounding Giancarlo Stanton being revealed on Saturday however, things may be about to reach a critical point.
Stanton told the media the injuries in both of his elbows are considered “severe” and that surgery is potentially on the table, a scenario which might cost the former MVP the entire season rather than just the current unknown timetable.
If things are truly moving in that direction, the Yankees have to pivot from their stubborness surrounding Martinez or risk completely throwing the season away.
Stanton was New York’s best offensive player in the playoffs and it’s entirely likely they don’t reach the World Series without him, but his production in the regular season the last couple of seasons is replaceable.
Martinez at the best version of himself in recent years is even better than Stanton has been. His .235/.320/.406 slash line and 16 home runs with the Mets in 2024 was far from spectacular, but his 2023 season with the Dodgers was better than possibly anything Stanton has produced through his entire tenure with the Yankees.
That year, Martinez slashed .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs and 103 RBI in just 113 games. Over the last four years, Martinez has played in nearly half a season’s more worth of games than Stanton has, demonstarting an ability to stay on the field that Stanton has not.
Most importantly and what ultimately should make this a no-brainer for New York, Martinez would simply be a one-year stopgap at the position and not require any sort of long-term commitment, simply providing a boost to the offense while the window is still open due to the weakness of the American League.
The ugly reality is that Stanton is not coming back anytime soon even in a best case scenario and the Yankees are staring down the barrel of having to trot out a lineup which is going to struggle to produce enough runs to defend the American League pennant.
For as bad as things have gone in the injury department though, the path is still there for New York to return to the World Series if that is what they truly want to do.
They have to be willing however to overextend themselves just a little bit and show they are still serious about winning, otherwise it’s going to be a brutally long season in the Bronx.
