How the Injured and Aging Yankees Can Avoid 2025 World Series Hangover
Four months after they concluded their business in the 2024 World Series, it's hard to ignore the contrasting vibes surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in spring training.
It's all happiness and sunshine (plus a few laughs) for the Dodgers in Arizona. Why wouldn't it be? They won said World Series and thoroughly won the 2024-25 offseason. And now, the odds for 2025 paint another championship run as near-certainty.
As for the Yankees, it's apparently not too early for them to tear up their best-laid plans for 2025 and go back to the drawing board.
The Yankees do have a 6-4 record in Grapefruit League play, but that is the epitome of "whatever" in context of what the injury bug has done to their roster.
Giancarlo Stanton? His power was meant to once again buoy the lineup, but he's going to start 2025 on the IL with injured elbows.
Luis Gil? He came into camp as the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, but he's now sidelined with a high-grade lat strain that could keep him out until June, if not longer.
Also feeling the sting of injuries are infielder DJ LeMahieu, starter Clarke Schmidt and relievers Scott Effross, Jake Cousins and JT Brubaker.
That's a sizable chunk of New York's projected 26-man roster that has already been compromised. And in the meantime, the flaws that were already there are...[double checks]...yup, still there.
Injuries Aren't the Only Worry for the Yankees
Hey, at least Cody Bellinger is poking holes through the dark clouds hanging over the Yankees camp.
He is among the players they acquired to replace Juan Soto—who, as a reminder, gave New York 41 home runs and 7.9 rWAR in 2024—in the aggregate, and he's doing his part to reinforce the team's confidence. He is 7-for-16 with a homer thus far in spring training.
Things are less pretty where fellow newcomers Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt are concerned.
Fried had a bumpy debut on March 3, allowing two runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. Though he did hit his first Yankees homer on Tuesday, Goldschmidt is 4-for-17 with eight strikeouts.
Fried will likely be fine, but Yankees fans have every right to feel uneasy about Goldschmidt. Though he was the NL MVP just three years ago, infrequent hits and frequent strikeouts were a theme of his 2024 season. He'll also be 38 years old before the season is over.
The 2025 season will otherwise be the age-33 campaign for two-time MVP Aaron Judge. He has averaged 6.6 rWAR per year since 2017, but his age bracket makes it hard to bank on more of that. Since 2008, only one outfielder aged 33 or older has cleared the 6-rWAR threshold.
This will also be the age-34 season for Gerrit Cole, and his stock is already in decline. He missed half of last season with a bad elbow. And when he did pitch, his average fastball was 1.9 mph slower than it had been in 2022.
At 32, Carlos Rodón is another aging pitcher with red flags. He's been injured more often than not throughout his career, and even a successful 2024 was marred by consistent loud contact. His exit velocity was in the 11th percentile.
Ideally, the Yankees would be able to look to more youthful players to offset the age- and injury-related concerns hanging over their roster. Yet even among that bunch, question marks include Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s durability, Anthony Volpe's bat and, in a more recent twist, Jasson Domínguez's glove.
The Yankees have put the 22-year-old in Alex Verdugo's vacated shoes in left field, but to say it's not going well would be underselling it. Domínguez has not looked remotely comfortable out there this spring.
The AL East Is Not a Soft Target
The Yankees were the best team in the American League least year. This is an established fact, with 94 wins and the pennant right there as supporting evidence.
But do you know what their record was within the AL East? Just 26-26.
This was even though two teams within the division finished below .500, with the Boston Red Sox only breaking even at 81-81. The Yankees didn't feast on any of their division rivals, as they went 5-8 against the Baltimore Orioles and 21-18 against everyone else.
According to FanGraphs, every team in the AL East is now projected to have a winning record in 2025. The Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are objectively better after loading up over the winter, while the Orioles (hitting) and Tampa Bay Rays (pitching) should be good on at least one side of the ball.
The Yankees are still the favorite to win the division, but "favorite" is relative. FanGraphs gives them a 38.4 percent chance of claiming the AL East crown, with each of the other four teams boasting at least a 10 percent chance of stealing it.
So, What Can They Do?
As far as what the Yankees can do to get their energy flowing in a more positive direction, they have excuses to give "nothing" as an answer.
The free-agent and trade markets have largely been picked clean, and they're already projected to go over the top luxury-tax threshold of $301 million. They crossed that threshold last year by $19 million, resulting in a $62.5 million penalty.
Which brings us to the latest in Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner being audibly squeamish about spending, as he said in February: "Does having a huge payroll really increase my chances that much of winning the championship? I'm not sure there's a strong correlation there."
It seems likely the Yankees will roll with what they have for now. Specifically, with Marcus Stroman in Gil's spot and Ben Rice as the first man up for Stanton's spot at DH.
Or, the Yankees could go with more interesting options for their rotation and at DH. One is Will Warren, who has looked terrific in logging eight one-run innings with 11 strikeouts this spring. The other is Spencer Jones, who has a 1.500 OPS.
The other course the Yankees could take involves either signing J.D. Martinez, who is reportedly on their radar, or trading for Nolan Arenado, who they tried to get in December. Then there's the other-other course, which involves letting things play out and adjusting once the summer trade market comes into focus.
To which I ask: Why not a little Column A and a little Column B?
Whereas signing Martinez would risk putting him and a healthy Stanton on a collision course, trading for Arenado would at least upgrade the Yankees' infield defense. And there may be a way to get him from the St. Louis Cardinals in an AAV-neutral deal, whether it involved the Cards eating money and/or taking on [sideways glance at LeMahieu] one of the Yankees' bad contracts.
Come the summer trading season, it would be a dereliction of duty if Steinbrenner did not let more financial line out for GM Brian Cashman to go after the big fish.
The 2025 Yankees are, after all, supposed to be a World Series contender. And not just any World Series contender. This one is caught between a 15-year championship drought and the real possibility that the sun is about to set on Judge's and Cole's primes.
Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara is likely to be out there for them as a replacement for Gil, and the same could be true of Dylan Cease and Michael King. If Stanton is slow or unable to recover, the Yankees would need to be first in line for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the event that the Blue Jays are willing to rent him out before free agency.
Pies in the sky? Well, yeah. But if it's truly likely trade targets you want, trust me when I say that you would be disappointed if the Yankees only went out and got, say, Martín Pérez and Josh Bell.
Besides, half-measures simply aren't going to be the salvation of the 2025 Yankees. If they can't get to a point where they're willing to go all-in, then they don't deserve to go back to the World Series anyway.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
CM Punk vs. John Cena: Who Will Turn Heel vs. Cody Rhodes For WrestleMania 41 Match
The Rock added an interesting wrinkle to the WWE Elimination Chamber and the road to WrestleMania 41, which could offer the big development we’ve been waiting for.
During last week’s episode of SmackDown, The Final Boss took part in the most bizarre segment in some time. It was long and repetitive at times, and it didn’t even give fans a definitive answer on his involvement in this year’s event.
Nevertheless, his offer to give Cody Rhodes everything he initially wanted in his first run with the company in exchange for his soul has become the biggest talking point. On the surface, this Faustian deal seemed random and cartoonish compared to the rest of the second generation’s time as the undisputed universal WWE champion.
However, it also aligns with some of the seeds WWE planted with CM Punk and John Cena. It’s hard to imagine The American Nightmare will accept the offer, but this storyline could make his eventual opponent much more interesting.
Will CM Punk Join Forces With The Rock?
Straight away, CM Punk seems like the logical choice after his interaction with Rhodes from the Jan. 22 episode of Raw.
The two have also had unspoken tension since the final moments of the men’s Royal Rumble match in 2024. The 39-year-old ultimately eliminated Punk to punch his ticket to The Showcase of the Immortals and slammed the door on his chance to compete in the main event.
The Second City Saint has also set his sights on championship gold since he wrapped up his feud with Drew McIntyre last year. Now that Jey Uso vs. Gunther is official, he only has one option if he wants to challenge for a world title.
10 years ago, the idea of him siding with The Rock as a corporate champion would’ve been sacrilegious. Today, it’s pretty close to how some of his most vocal critics have characterized his return to WWE following a highly publicized and messy exit in 2014.
Frankly, some of his detractors already think he sold out, so it would make perfect sense to lean into this perception and use it to his advantage. This would create an intriguing dynamic with Rhodes, who has already said he’s “more CM Punk than CM Punk.”
Those words would hit much harder if Punk completely bought in and became the very thing he claimed to hate during his popular claim to fame.
Can WWE Finally Pull Off A John Cena Heel Turn?
WWE also has the opportunity to give fans something they’ve been clamoring for for years.
John Cena’s run as a prototypical white meat babyface was endearing for many viewers worldwide. Conversely, it sometimes became a creative albatross that stifled his character development and alienated fans who grew tired of his do-gooder schtick.
The “Super Cena” era, where he never lost, grew stale and drew a level of disdain that most villains in the same profession could only dream of. It became fun to hate WWE’s top guy and actively root against him between 2008 and 2014.
This infamously led to demands for him to turn heel, and apparently, during his feud with The Rock, there were plans to do so in 2011. So, it’s fitting that a partnership with his former rival could finally spark this character change in 2025.
After his final Royal Rumble appearance, the 47-year-old declared it’s best for business for him to main-event WrestleMania and become a 17-time world champion. It was a stark departure from the earnest promo he cut during the debut episode of Raw on Netflix.
Cena didn’t say he would give it a shot and hope for the best. Instead, he all but guaranteed a win and repeatedly emphasized, “It's what’s best for business,” which is a mantra The Authority popularized.
WWE drove this point home during the video package that aired on Monday night, laying the groundwork for what could be one of the most shocking moments of the year.
The Verdict
Rhodes vs. Cena has been reportedly slated for WrestleMania 41 for months. This leads us to believe he will accept The Rock’s offer and attempt to break Ric Flair’s record for the most world title wins.
Yes, it’s ironic that WWE would do this during his farewell tour when many fans have grown to appreciate him, but there are two ways to look at this. This would be a splendid parting gift for fans who have always wanted to see him turn heel, and it will give his avid haters the chance to boo him one last time.
The reasoning for his turn is also fairly simple. When he couldn’t win on his own as he did at the height of his success, Cena felt he had earned the right to jump the line. In fact, he already skipped the qualifying matches that all the other competitors endured, announcing he would enter the men’s Elimination Chamber match because it’s what’s best for business.
Similarly, he likely feels he has earned the right to cut corners and give in to his impulses because he has spent his entire career playing the nice guy. At his lowest point, when Father Time has caught up with him and the competition has evolved, he will sell his soul for the chance at immortality.
In reality, this will probably lead to a passing of the torch moment for Rhodes, but he needs a proper foil in Cena for it to work.