FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: All winter, Dan Szymborski has been running every team’s ZiPS projections for the 2026 season. Now, with all 30 teams complete, he’s run a million simulations for the 2026 season. Unsurprisingly, the American League East is shaping up to be a dogfight, with four of the five teams in the division having at least a forty percent chance of making the playoffs. Among the top four teams, the Yankees don’t have the brightest performance in the model, with an average win total of just 87 games.
News day | Laura Albanese: One of the main reasons the Yankees are performing slightly worse under the ZiPS model is the fact that the team’s core is aging. Over the past few years, the organization has essentially “stepped back” year after year, leaning offensively on Aaron Judge and trying to build a solid pitching staff behind 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. For this reason, however, the Yankees’ core has started to age, as Judge, Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, Max Fried and Carlos Rodón are all on the wrong side of 30. While that doesn’t mean they’ll be bad — the team has won 94 games in each of the last two seasons, and 92 or more in six of the last seven full seasons — it does increase the margin for error, as Father Time is mostly undefeated.
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MLB.com: In a low-level move, the Yankees sent left-handed reliever Jayvien Sandridge to the Los Angeles Angels yesterday in exchange for cash considerations. Sandbridge, 26, made one appearance with the Yankees last season – his Major League debut – while serving primarily as depth in the bullpen in Triple-A.
NJ.com: Retired Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo appears to be embarking on a career in sports media this season as reports indicate he is set to join NBC Sports as they take over coverage of Sunday Night Baseball this season. He will join Bob Costas and Clayton Kershaw as studio analysts.
