BOSTON — The twisted wreckage that is the Yankees’ failed 2021 season will continue smoking for months to come. In fact, it may smolder until the early days of February when spring training begins and everyone is in the best shape of their lives.
But before the lights flicker back on at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, owner Hal Steinbrenner has to look survey all that is under his purview and decide who stays and who goes.
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Here are our thoughts, fresh off the Red Sox’s wild-card whooping ...
Brian Cashman, general manager
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Cashman built a roster that just about everyone had pegged to win the American League East and seriously challenge for a World Series. It underperformed massively. It is his fault? Yes. The buck has to stop somewhere. But does that mean he’s lost his touch? The majority of his trade-deadline moves would suggest otherwise. Cashman has another year left on his contract.
Aaron Boone, manager
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. The players have done nothing but support Boone, from Aaron Judge to Giancarlo Stanton, and neither of them are going anywhere. It’s not his fault DJ LeMahieu took a huge step back or that he had to play Joey Gallo everyday or that he suddenly had Andrew Heaney in his rotation. But it’s fair to wonder whether Boone is responsible for getting more out of players like Gary Sanchez, who continues to disappoint, or Gleyber Torres, whose confidence was an issue far too often.
CATCHERS
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. For the second straight year, the Yankees turned to Kyle Higashioka in the playoffs, rendering Sanchez a $6.2-million backup. Can’t happen again.
Kyle Higashioka
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Makes a fine backup, but shouldn’t be counted on to shoulder the full-time load.
Rob Brantly
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. A third catcher with prospect Donny Sands a potential backup option next year and with top prospect Austin Wells on his way up the minor-league ladder.
INFIELD
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. He’s going to cost too much in free agency at age 32 for a team with lots of other holes to address and the Yankees should slide this next player to first base.
DJ LeMahieu, INF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Obviously. But while LeMahieu might still be a capable second baseman, he could be better suited for first base and third base, especially with this next player around …
Gleyber Torres, INF
KEEP OR DUMP: Torres looked revived when he moved back to second base. Keep him there. At 24 years old, it’s too soon to give up on his talent.
Luke Voit, 1B
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. He’s a high-level slugger who hasn’t been able to stay healthy and his left knee has to be a worry. The defense isn’t getting much better either and DH is occupied in the Bronx.
Gio Urshela, 3B
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Urshela had a slightly down year at the plate but, when healthy, his defense is among the best at his position. Urshela isn’t the Yankees’ problem.
Rougned Odor, INF
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Odor might symbolize so much of what was wrong with the 2021 Yankees. They bet that they could turn him into a better hitter and kept him around because of his zero-dollar luxury tax hit, with Texas paying the rest of his contract. It was like the Yankees kept him around because he was cheap, even though he was bad, and who imagined a Steinbrenner-owned team operating like that?
Tyler Wade, UTL
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. He’s growing into his super utility role, even if he never becomes a prime Ben Zobrist, and he’s an absolute terror on the bases.
Andrew Velazquez, INF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. A fine up-and-down glove-first infielder, but he shouldn’t factor into next year’s major-league roster unless there’s an injury.
Chris Gittens, 1B
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. First base depth at Triple-A, though he did seem overmatched by big-league fastballs this year.
OUTFIELD
Aaron Judge, RF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. One of the best players in the game, the Yankees need to decide whether to lock him up long term this offseason as he enters his final year of team control. The guess here is that they won’t.
Giancarlo Stanton, DH/LF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Stanton stayed healthy, carried the Yankees in September and proved he’s ready, willing and able to play the outfield again.
Brett Gardner, CF
KEEP OR DUMP: Wash. Yup, we said it. Wash. Look, if the Yankees want to keep Gardner around as a fourth outfielder, that’s a fine idea. But they still have the next guy on the list and what are they going to do with him?
Aaron Hicks, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Before the season, Hicks said he thought he could hit 30-plus home runs if he got 500 at-bats in a season. With Hicks’ injury history, the Yankees cannot bank on Hicks ever getting 500 at-bats in a season. He’s due another $30 million over the next three years.
Joey Gallo, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Gallo struck out in nearly half his at-bats after joining the Yankees (88 K, 188 AB), and he didn’t figure it out in late September and went hitless in four at-bats in the wild-card game. OK, so, Gallo is a good left fielder, right? But he looked overmatched against teams that were bringing their best against the Yankees.
Clint Frazier, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Before anything, Frazier’s health is the most important thing, and it’s unknown whether he’s still struggling with dizziness and vision issues. But the Yankees can’t count on him for a full season.
Estevan Florial, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. He’s just 23 years old. He’s still supremely athletically (and defensively) talented. Crazier things have happened than prospects blooming as late as Florial.
Miguel Andujar, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Where is he going to play? He’s a low-OBP, high-extra-bases bat without a defensive position.
Greg Allen, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Outfield depth.
Tim Locastro, OF
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. More Triple-A depth.
PITCHERS
Gerrit Cole, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. But the Yankees need to give him a co-ace, somebody riding shotgun. That person can’t be Luis Severino, who can’t be trusted to pitch a full season yet. Ah, speaking of which …
Luis Severino, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. He’s got just one year left on his four-yer, $40-million contract extension. Think he won’t be motivated?
Corey Kluber, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. What a bad bet his $11-million, one-year contract was by the Yankees’ front office.
Nestor Cortes, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Probably better off in a swingman role on a championship contender, but that’s valuable.
Jordan Montgomery, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Montgomery pitched like a middle-rotation arm that got basically no run support until he got blown up in the Yankees’ second-to-last game of the season and said it was “bound to happen out of 30 starts.” No. That’s not the time of year that whip out that line.
Domingo German, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Another back-end rotation arm, and now he’s dealing with shoulder issues. German works as depth but doesn’t figure to be more than a fifth starter.
Michael King, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. King seems trending toward becoming a multi-inning bullpen arm that the Yankees have a strong track record in developing.
Deivi Garcia, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Too young to give up on at just 22 years old, but his 6.48 ERA at Triple-A has to set off alarms.
Luis Gil, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Great fastball/changeup combination, but many scouts see him as an eventual late-inning reliever due to his control problems. Those are valuable, too.
Zack Britton, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Don’t really have much of a choice. Britton will miss most of the season following Tommy John surgery this year and has another year on his contract after that.
Aroldis Chapman, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. But it might be time to start thinking about a future where Chapman slides to the eighth inning and Loaisiga or somebody else becomes the closer.
Chad Green, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. The Yankees rode Green into the ground in 2021. His riding fastball is still among the best among baseball’s relievers but hitters need a better breaking ball to keep them off it. Green hasn’t found it yet.
Clay Holmes, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. A steal authored by the front office in its trade with the Pirates before the All-Star break. His sinker makes him like a right-handed Britton.
Jonathan Loaisiga, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. in spring training, evaluators from opposing teams wondered why the Yankees wouldn’t put an arm as talented as Loaisiga’s in their rotation. He spent three weeks on the IL this season with a shoulder injury, and he’s probably best-suited for relief work due to his stature. He has closer stuff and the Yankees should be open to giving him looks in the ninth inning next year.
Lucas Luetge, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Another solid Yankees front office find. Luetge was good against both sides of the plate for the first half of the season until trades pushed him to the back-end of the relief corps.
Albert Abreu, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. Showed flashes of a potentially dominant reliever this season, but needs more innings out of the bullpen. Yankees might want to pull the plug on him as a starter.
Nick Nelson, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. Great spring training, struggled big-time in the majors at just about every turn.
Darren O’Day, RHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Dump. A left hamstring strain took him out of the Yankees’ plans in July and for the rest of the season. Seems likely to activate his $1.4-million player option and maybe the Yankees should consider dealing him.
Wandy Peralta, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. The Yankees turned outfielder Mike Tauchman into a reliever who gave them a 2.95 ERA over 46 appearances.
Joely Rodriguez, LHP
KEEP OR DUMP: Keep. With a 2.84 ERA in 21 games, he might have been the more valuable part of the deal that landed Gallo in New York from Texas.
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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.
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