5 questions facing the Yankees as season approaches
Yankees backup catcher J.C. Escarra taking part in pop-up drills at home plate during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Feb. 14 in Tampa, Fla. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — By Yankee standards, it has been a quiet spring training. No significant injuries of any kind. A few roster decisions to be made, but none that could be categorized as major. Nothing occurring off the field to distract from the action on it.
Still, there is at least some mild intrigue when it comes to the club’s 26-man roster for the March 25 opener against the Giants in San Francisco.
Five questions facing the Yankees with just under three weeks remaining in the Grapefruit League season:
1. Will the Yankees break camp with three catchers or two?
At the start of camp, manager Aaron Boone indicated that Ben Rice would see his share of time at catcher. But that always seemed a long shot; the Yankees’ plan throughout the offseason was to start the season with Rice, who came up through the organization primarily as a catcher, as their everyday first baseman. Given that Rice has been learning first base at the big-league level — and still is — taking his focus away from that in spring training never made sense. Indeed, at the halfway point of Grapefruit League play, Rice hasn’t caught a game and Boone has all but dropped the pretense that he will. It seems all but a certainty that the Yankees will break camp with J.C. Escarra as Austin Wells’ backup with Rice as the emergency catcher (or, perhaps, a once-in-a-blue-moon option against a tough lefthander if lefty-killer Paul Goldschmidt gets the start at first).
2. Who will comprise the bench?
Going with the assumption that Escarra is taken as the backup catcher, that leaves three bench spots. And, in reality, the last three spots already may have been determined. Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario are locks for two of those spots and righthanded-hitting outfielder Randal Grichuk, whom the Yankees tried to acquire multiple times in recent years, joined the club via a minor-league deal on Feb. 25. A late wild-card entrant to the race is popular utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera, who made his exhibition debut Friday night, his first game since suffering an ugly ankle injury last May 12 in Seattle. Also in the mix is Max Schuemann, who has appeared in 234 games the last two seasons for the A’s. Schuemann, 28, who is on the 40-man roster, can play second, third and shortstop.
3. Will Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest get one of the final bullpen spots?
Start here with the bullpen: Barring injuries, David Bednar, Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough are certain to leave camp with the team. That leaves two available slots.
Righthander Jake Bird, acquired at the trade deadline last season, has thrown well. While maybe not a lock, he appears to be close to one. “Exciting what he’s been doing,” Boone said before Saturday night’s game against the Nationals at CACTI Park.
Winquest, on the 40-man roster as the Yankees’ first Rule 5 pick since 2011, hasn’t pitched above Double-A in his career and, according to rival scouts, hasn’t distinguished himself in spring training. “Not bad, not good,” one American League scout said. “They’ve shown some impressive arms this spring. I wouldn’t say he’s been one of them.” Winquest's selection was pushed mostly by the Yankees’ analytics wing because of the potential it saw in his ability to spin the ball. Because he was a Rule 5 pick, to be removed from the 26-man roster during the 2026 season, Winquest would have to be placed on outright waivers; if he cleared waivers, he would have to be offered back to the Cardinals for $50,000.
4. How close is Spencer Jones to the big leagues?
The club’s first-round pick from 2022 is a highly regarded prospect, but not as highly regarded as he once was. That's because the 6-7, 240-pound Jones, now 24, entered professional baseball striking out nearly 40% of the time, and that hasn’t dipped much during his climb through the minors. The lefthanded hitter, who struck out a combined 179 times in 506 plate appearances last year in stints with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, tweaked his stance during the offseason and has looked moderately better in spring training. Jones, who started in centerfield Saturday night, entered the day 4-for-13 with three homers, a 1.515 OPS and five strikeouts in seven games. If there is an injury to one of the outfielders, Jones wouldn’t be the first one called up; it would be Jasson Dominguez (Dominguez, whom the Yankees want to get everyday playing time, is highly likely to start the season in Triple-A).
5. Can top position prospect George Lombard Jr. break camp with the club?
OK, that’s not really a question the Yankees face because they’re not asking it. The short answer is no. Zero chance. But it is an oft-asked question by fans — and even some media — because Lombard, who in 2025 had an electrifying three weeks in big-league camp for the first time as a 19-year-old, has been even better this year. Still, he struggled for most of the four-plus months he spent in Double-A last season after a quick promotion from High-A Hudson Valley. He’ll have to show he can handle that level on offense — most scouts believe his defense is big league-caliber — before any kind of promotion.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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