With just a couple of weeks left before the start of Spring Training, the 2026 Yankees are set to look a lot like the 2025 Yankees.
General manager Brian Cashman disagrees that the team is just running it back, but having much of the same cast returning for this year might end up paying off in the long run. If you glance at FanGraphs' depth charts projections for this season, the Yanks are expected to have the third-best roster by WAR. Only the two 2025 World Series combatants -- the Blue Jays and the Dodgers -- are ahead of them, and the gap between the Yanks and Toronto is pretty small.
However, perhaps the Bombers should rank even higher. If you look at the position-by-position projections, you will see a few spots where the Yankees' projected WAR seems a little off. Projection systems produce generally conservative outputs, but even taking that into account, there are three certain players/positions that appear to be especially underappreciated.
Let's point out why that is and why the outlook should be rosier.
First base: Ben Rice
Yankees' projected position WAR: 2.5 (12th in MLB)
Player's projected WAR: 1.9 at 1B (2.5 overall)
Why the projections aren't higher: Rice's first full season in the Majors was a smashing success, highlighted by 26 home runs, a 133 wRC+ and 3.0 WAR in 138 games. However, it was just one full season. While the 26-year-old could continue his upward trajectory, these projections bake in the possibility of regression in Year 2 as opposing pitchers learn how to attack him better.
Why they should be higher: Rice's offensive skill set already looks special. Last season, he became one of only 12 players since 2015 to rank in the 90th percentile or better in hard-hit rate and barrel rate, and rank in the 60th percentile or better in strikeout rate. The other 11 players are All-Stars, MVP winners and/or Hall of Famers. Rice's defense at first base is still a work in progress, but if he can be simply league average there, another 3.0-WAR season seems more than reasonable.
Third base: Ryan McMahon
Yankees' projected position WAR: 2.3 (tied for 20th in MLB)
Player's projected WAR: 1.7 at 3B (1.7 overall)
Why the projections aren't higher: Despite his consistently valuable defense at the hot corner, McMahon has fallen short of 2.0 WAR in each of the past three years in part because he has been at least 10% below league average on offense. Since the start of 2023, his wRC+ has gone from 90 to 88 to 86. And while there has always been a lot of swing-and-miss in McMahon's game, his 32.3% strikeout rate and 35.2% whiff rate were the worst among qualified hitters last year.
Why they should be higher: FanGraphs states that the Yanks will get contributions at third from a few others, but McMahon should be able to top that 2.3 total WAR on his own, just as he did in 2021 (2.5 WAR) and '22 (3.1 WAR) with the Rockies. He can still do damage when he makes contact; his 50.5% hard-hit rate and 12.1% barrel rate last year were career highs, and each was above the 75th percentile in MLB. A left-handed bat, McMahon also boasted a career-high 17.0% pulled air ball rate, something that he should lean into more often -- and benefit from -- during a full season at Yankee Stadium. The key will be getting his K rates back near the mid-20s as they were in those two aforementioned recent years. Even a small improvement in that one area will make these projections look light.
Left field: Cody Bellinger
Yankees' projected position WAR: 2.7 (8th in MLB)
Player's projected WAR: 2.0 at LF (3.3 overall)
Why the projections aren't higher: Bellinger is coming off a stellar season with the Yanks -- 125 wRC+ and 4.9 WAR -- but that came only one year after a much more pedestrian showing with the Cubs -- 108 wRC+, 2.1 WAR. While he's no longer the negative-WAR player he became with the Dodgers in 2021, it's hard to say whether Bellinger will continue to be a very good-to-great player or merely an above-average one. These projections are sort of splitting the difference between 2024 and '25.
Why they should be higher: A reunion with the Yankees was always the best fit for Bellinger, and that has come to fruition. He batted .302 with a .909 OPS through 80 games in the Bronx. Thanks in part to his ability to consistently pull the ball in the air, Bellinger also hit 18 homers in New York, which matched his 130-game total from 2024. He was not nearly as productive on the road (11 homers, .241 average, .715 OPS), but staying in such a hitter-friendly environment should give him a high statistical floor. And that says nothing of the value Bellinger brings on defense, which was near the top of the left-field leaderboard last year.