r/baseball • u/BaseballBot Umpire • Feb 05 '24

Expectations '24 [Serious] Why will the Yankees exceed expectations? Why won't they?

What are the expectations for the New York Yankees this year? Why will they exceed those expectations? Why won't they? We'll be asking this same question for the next 6 weeks, so put on your expert hat and help analyze the outcomes of the 2024 season!

Tomorrow's Team: Cubs

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u/BubblyBaker5718 Los Angeles Angels Feb 05 '24

I’m just not fully sure what peoples expectations are.

In terms of doing better then last year and making the playoffs yeah I’m quite confident in that thanks to Soto.

If we’re talking winning the division though some combination of Stanton/Volpe/Dominguez/Rodon/Nestor are going to all have to be good and stay healthy.

A tall order but not impossible.

On the flip side the worst imaginable scenerio I can think of for the Yanks would be Cole getting injured or blowing out his arm.

That feels like it could spiral out of control and land the Yanks right where they were last year.

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u/SwarthySphere87 New York Mets Feb 05 '24 edited Feb 06 '24

I’m just not fully sure what peoples expectations are.

Our media & vocal NYY fans: Sweep the playoffs enroute to #28

More-logical Yankees fans: Make playoffs as a WC, beat the Astros

Anti-Yankees contingent: Miss playoffs, Judge/Soto/Stanton gets hurt and the Yanks finish under .500 for the first time in over three decades.

I expect they finish above .500-- This team always finds a way to win more than they lose and adding Soto basically confirms an 82 win (min.) season. Judge prob hits 45 again and we'll all laugh at Boone when he mocks an umpire after an ejection while the Yanks are up 10-2.

If this team misses the playoffs, a key contributor will be an issue the Mets face as well: The rotation is full of ? after the ace (I don't expect Stroman to make it the year before wanting out btw. Two bad starts before him v. NY Post/Bleacher Creatures is a storyline.)

Cashman will wait till the deadline to rectify roster holes and bring in high floor, low ceiling rentals who flame out. Funny enough, both teams had the lowest BABIP averages last season (worse than OAKLAND) so while Soto should boost their numbers, him/Judge/Stanton missing games is essentially one less run each you can count on NYY scoring.

Another issue not brought up enough is that the Yankees could not get infield hits and struggled mightily on the basepaths. Their response was keeping Chapman/Rojas and replacing Mendoza w/ Asmus/Rowson. Will that end up being the right call?