The Yankees’ Christmas wish list heading into 2020

Merry Christmas! While it may already seem like the Yankees have gotten everything they could have wished for this holiday season, hopefully, old Saint Cashman will keep riding his sleigh and delivering gifts to the Bronx ahead of 2020. Gerrit Cole may already be in our stockings, but what else should the Yankees be wishing for throughout the remainder of the offseason?

1. Health

This is the thing that has held the Baby Bombers back over the past few years, and if anything it is most likely what could hold them back in the future. Right from the start, the Yankees will already be battling health issues, with Aaron Hicks out until around July. Moreover, many players are coming back from 2019 injuries that kept them out for most of the season, among them Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jordan Montgomery.

We saw a bit of Severino at the end of 2019 and in the playoffs, and he looked just like his normal self. The Yankees will need that in 2020. Stanton might be more of a concern, having only having played 18 games last season and having struggled with multiple ailments throughout the year. With their daunting lineup, the Yankees don’t necessarily need Stanton to be the MVP he was in 2017, but they could really use him healthy and producing on a relatively consistent basis, which he is still more than capable of doing.

Another player that could greatly benefit from consistent health is Gary Sanchez. Sanchez flashed his potential at times last year, yet struggled to really get into a groove, and fell into multiple slumps and hit the injured list a couple times. We all know the potential Sanchez has to offer, he just has to stay on the field.

The Yankees have depth, as we saw in 2019, to cover for a few injuries without issue. But if the 2020 Yankees can stay healthy and put their A-team on the field come October, they shouldn’t accomplish anything less than winning a World Series.

2. Gerrit Cole living up to the hype

Are you excited Yankee fans? The best pitcher in baseball will be on the mound in Yankee Stadium next season. Hal Steinbrenner finally said enough is enough, opened his wallet, and gave us the move we’ve all been waiting for. Cole is a Yankee and they’re fully-equipped to win.

While on paper this move might make the Yankees the best team in baseball, Cole still has to come out and be that dominant ace the Yankees need. All signs point to him being the right guy, having the right attitude, and clearly having the skills to go out there and dominate batters left and right. But as we all know, each season and team has its own identity, and we’ll have to wait and see if Gerrit Cole can be the driving force of the 2020 Yankees.

3. Hitting when it matters

This has been an aggravating aspect of the game that helped hold the Yankees back last year. Every year, the team’s pitching profiles as a weakness, but when it comes down to it, the Yankees haven’t quite gotten over the hump because of some ill-timed slumps in key situations. They’ve now cemented themselves as one of the best pitching clubs in all of baseball by swiping by taking the best pitcher in baseball away from their main competitor, but that move won’t mean anything if the deep lineup of talented hitters can’t flex its muscles when it matters.

Having said that, Merry Christmas everyone! Let us know in the comment section what else is on your Yankees wish list before the 2020 season starts!