TAMPA, Florida — Back atop his perch, Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed the media.
On Tuesday afternoon, the in-dugout shot-caller of the game’s most notorious franchise conducted something of a welcome-back media conference. Speaking poetically about the optimism that blankets all corners of the baseball world at this time of year, Boone fielded an assortment of questions on what was, effectively, Day Zero of the 2025 season.
It was a tantalizing yet unsatisfying day at the yard. A handful of Yankees players filtered through the team facilities to drop off belongings, but most of the bigger names, including Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Aaron Judge, stayed out of sight. That’s because the Yankees don’t begin baseball activities until Wednesday morning.
Still, Boone’s remarks signaled the unofficial start of what should be another fascinating spring training in YankeeWorld. With his club coming off a successful yet ultimately disappointing 2024, Boone will spend the next six weeks preparing his club for the slogging, six-month gauntlet of regular-season baseball. A tumultuous offseason that saw Juan Soto switch boroughs, forcing GM Brian Cashman into a transactional pivot, only puts more pressure on Boone, who will be a managerial free agent at season’s end, to make all the pieces fit together.
Here are some of the pressing questions and prevalent storylines facing Boone and the Yankees as spring training officially begins with the arrival of pitchers and catchers on Wednesday.
Who will be the starting third baseman?
The Yankees were content letting longtime second baseman Gleyber Torres walk in free agency. They’ll move deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the keystone to fill Torres’ shoes, which leaves a gaping hole at the hot corner. Options include rickety veteran DJ LeMahieu, utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera and a pair of unproven youngsters in Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas.
Asked about the every-day third-base job, Boone opined that it’s “a great opportunity for someone to grab it.” Yet it was clear from the manager’s tone that Boone wants LeMahieu, who was limited by injury to 67 games last year, to win the starting gig.
“He’s had those things that have popped up that have really, you know, zapped, you know, his greatness,” Boone lamented. “And I’m not going to put anything past a healthy DJ.”
Despite Boone’s positive outlook, some skepticism is warranted. LeMahieu turns 36 in July. He was, statistically, one of the sport’s worst players in 2024. There’s a strong chance that his best days have come and gone. But the Yankees, given the strengths elsewhere in their lineup, just need LeMahieu to be sufficient.
Boone, who has a long track record of standing by struggling veterans (sometimes for too long), still believes that’s possible.
What will happen with Marcus Stroman?
The mercurial hurler signed a two-year deal with the Yankees as a free agent last winter. And while Stroman posted in 2024, making 29 starts and tossing 154 2/3 frames, he was easily the club’s worst starting pitcher. After a decent first half, the 33-year-old righty logged a 5.98 ERA the rest of the way and was left off the Yankees’ ALCS roster.
His future has only grown hazier since then. The signing of All-Star lefty Max Fried left Stroman without a spot in the starting rotation, behind Fried, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. Barring an injury to any of that quintet, Stroman will start the season either in New York’s bullpen or on another roster altogether.
Understandably, the situation has led to a slew of trade rumors, though to move him, the Yankees would surely have to eat a portion of the $18.5 million due to Stroman this season.
“It’s maybe a little bit of an awkward situation, just with all the noise around it this winter,” Boone admitted Tuesday. “But I’m comfortable with where he is in his focus and his physical preparation coming in.”
A lot could change between now and Opening Day. At this time last year, for instance, Gil was a relative afterthought. But how Stroman performs in camp will certainly impact whether the Yankees can swing a trade involving the sinkerballing vet.
Who will be the backup catcher?
Boone was not asked about this on Tuesday, but it’s an under-the-radar story to watch that could have a huge impact on the Yankees’ season. Austin Wells emerged as an every-day player last season, earning a third-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. But his backup, longtime Yankees backstop Jose Trevino, was dealt to Cincinnati over the winter, leaving New York’s catching corps somewhat undermanned.
Contenders for the job include Alex Jackson, a 29-year-old with a .456 OPS in 340 career plate appearances; JC Escarra, who turns 30 in April and has never appeared in the big leagues; and Ronaldo Hernandez, a former hotshot Rays prospect whom the Yankees signed Tuesday morning.
Wells looks like an impact player, someone who could blossom into one of the league’s best catchers. But the position is famously volatile; one wayward foul tip could lead to months on the shelf. And if Wells misses significant time, the Yankees would be in a bad spot at a vital position. A smattering of veteran catchers remain available in free agency — Yan Gomes, Yasmani Grandal, James McCann — but considering how difficult it is to onboard a backstop in-season, the Yanks might want to act sooner rather than later if that’s their path forward.
How will the Yankees find an edge?
Last year during spring training, Boone spoke at lengths about how missing the playoffs in 2023 had fostered an edge among his players. The shame of a couch-bound October lingered with the returning Yankees and helped light a fire under the club heading into 2024. That edge proved significant, with the team stampeding its way to its best campaign in more than a decade.
Asked about that dynamic, Boone admitted Tuesday that he spent time this winter pondering how the 2025 team will find its own edge.
“I think you can have a great situation, a great culture, a great closeness about your team, a great professionalism about your team,” he said. “I think sometimes the separator — where a team that’s good can be great, a team that’s great can be a champion — is that hunger. That is not a given, even with the best of people and the best of teams.”
Perhaps the club taps into the enduring humiliation from the team’s error jamboree in World Series Game 5. Perhaps the departure of Soto — the game’s top free agent spurning the game’s top team — puts a chip on their collective shoulder. Perhaps Boone’s lame-duck status pushes the roster to back up its well-liked skipper.
As spring dawns and a new season awaits, the Yankees will spend the next month and a half searching for a spark that sticks.
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