The New York Yankees are facing significant challenges heading into the 2025 MLB season.
As spring training begins, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with injuries to both of his elbows. To make matters worse, it was later revealed that he’s also struggling with a calf injury.
In a season preview for every MLB team, insiders Russell Dorsey, Jake Mintz, and Jordan Shusterman from Yahoo outlined the worst-case scenario for the Yankees, which includes Stanton not playing a single game in 2025.
The article read, “It turns out that replacing Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole is extremely difficult. Judge desperately misses Soto’s presence in the lineup, as recent additions such as Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm fail to step up. Giancarlo Stanton, sidelined by two ailing elbows, doesn’t play a single game.”
If Stanton is unable to play at all in 2025, it would be a major setback for the Yankees’ roster.
Stanton is under a 13-year, $325.5 million contract with the Yankees. Last season, he hit .233 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs, while in the playoffs, he batted .273 with 7 home runs and 16 RBIs.
Stanton’s Injury Concerns
Stanton has been battling both elbow and calf injuries. Currently rehabbing, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has stated that surgery is not being ruled out, though it would be a last resort.
“It’d be a last resort,” Cashman said. “I can’t rule out surgery, but I know it’s not recommended in the front end of this thing. But obviously, if you have a number of different failed attempts, then you start looking at different ways of intervention.”
If Stanton requires surgery, it could put his entire season in jeopardy. However, Stanton remains focused on doing whatever it takes to return to the field.
“It’s a long year,” Stanton said. “These (injuries) happen throughout the year. You don’t want them to happen off the bat, but you understand and consider they happen every year, unfortunately, to a different number of guys. It’s just the mentality of holding the fort down until everybody gets healthy.”
The Yankees are set to open the 2025 MLB season at home on March 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yankees Expected to Be Wild Card Team
With Stanton, Gerrit Cole, and Luis Gil all dealing with injuries, the insiders don’t expect the Yankees to find much success in 2025.
Although the Yankees won the AL East last season and made it to the World Series, the loss of Juan Soto in free agency, combined with the injuries, has led the writers to predict the Yankees won’t repeat as AL East champions.
“The Yankees miss Soto much more than they miss Cole, but Judge does enough to carry the supporting cast to 90 wins and a wild-card berth,” the article stated. “Volpe emerges, and Chisholm is solid, but the rest of the lineup underwhelms. It’s a decent, ultimately disappointing Yankees season that pushes the franchise one year closer to ending the Judge Era without a ring.”
Being a wild card team would be a letdown for New York, given their dominance in the AL East last season.
Currently, the Yankees have the third-best odds of winning the World Series at +850, which suggests a 10.5% chance.
