Man Just Go!

Another World Baseball Classic champion crowned, the first Major League ABS challenges have taken place, and opening day ceremonies have come and gone. The 2026 MLB season has snuck up on us like water balloons tossed out of high rise tenement apartment building windows randomly crashing on our heads while walking home from a busy day at the office. After finally catching up on life and baseball, I must say that my beloved New York Yankees look pretty darn good. While Mr. Cashman may be the first to disagree with this notion, the Bombers are running it back with some small tweaks to the roster and major spark plugs in the minors and on the IL. I see the squad finishing better than last years 94-68 record and taking the AL East Division. Here goes a review of the Yankee’s 2026 roster to explain why:

Not much changed from 2025 for the Yanks on the offensive side of things. Grisham, Bellinger, Rosario, and Goldschmidt all re-signed with the team and Randal Grichuk made the opening day squad on a minor-league deal. The 2025 Yankee offense led the majors in home runs and RBI. My bet is that a healthy Giancarlo Stanton and full season of Ryan McMahon make the lineup even deadlier across the stat board. Neither Ranger Súarez nor Dylan Cease are enough to prevent it. Minus Grichuk, every bat on the squad played together last season so an element of cohesiveness should exist as well. If the offense stays healthy, the Bombers should easily dethrone Toronto as AL East champs. Also, there’s Aaron Judge. 

Now let’s talk pitching. I’m going to say this outright, if the Yankees rotation can end the season healthy, the Yank’s have one of the scariest teams in baseball. Cole and Rodon should have no trouble getting back to form upon returning from injury, Fried led the majors in wins last season, and Cam Schlittler has shown us nothing but greatness (Yes my friends, I jumped on the Schlittler wagon late last season and have no plans of looking back). During spring training, I told anyone that would listen that the Ryan Weathers deal could make the Bombers a World Series contender. A decent season from him and the Yanks have a historic starting group. 

The Bomber bullpen was probably last season’s weak point. The pen ranked 23rd in the MLB in ERA. While the team had a solid cumulative year, I have to be honest, that’s rough for the Yanks. Jake Cousins is the only bullpen arm I’ll regret losing last offseason but the team managed to resign Yarbrough and Blackburn. I like to pretend I’m a full blown Pennsylvanian now days so I’m super excited to have Bednar closing things out. No, but seriously, the guys put up some solid stat lines over the years and who doesn’t love a good Splitter. 

And then there’s the intangibles. Can Volpe return and legitimize himself as the team’s everyday shortstop? How much does Goldie have left in the tank? How many bases can Jazz and Caballero steal together? Will Schmidty return? Are Lombard or Jones going to see time in the majors this season? How will Gil perform after starting the year with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre? Does Elmer Rodriguez get a major league start? Which “unexpected” batter will mash 20+ homers? Find out next time on ManJustGo! 

-Giovanni Alvarado