The New York Yankees have a lot of issues entering the offseason and how to improve the roster. However, one noteworthy issue involves the team’s best hitter of the 2026 season. Ben Rice led the team after Aaron Judge suffered his injury and was among the best overall hitters in the MLB. The problem is that Rice spent most of the season as the designated hitter without a defensive position.
The New York Times named this as one of the three biggest issues for the Yankees this offseason:
“Rice, who will be 28 next year, is too young to be a full-time designated hitter. It also wouldn’t be ideal for the Yankees if he takes the majority of his at-bats there. Despite how good Rice has proved to be as a hitter (41 home runs, .897 OPS), he was bad defensively at first base last season.
Of the 43 players who played 300 innings at the position, Rice ranked second-to-last in DRS at minus-8. Only the Seattle Mariners’ Josh Naylor was worse at minus-9. Rice’s issues ran the gamut: He was plodding; he didn’t have the best feel for the position; he was a poor receiver.”
The Yankees will likely want Rice to be the primary first baseman next season. Rice will be right there with Judge and Cody Bellinger as the three most important hitters on the roster. Unfortunately, Judge will have to play some DH as he gets older and returns from injury. Giancarlo Stanton remains on the roster, and he can’t play defense either.
Yankees Can’t Win If Ben Rice Doesn’t Improve
It feels wrong to put this much pressure and doubt onto the brightest hitting spot of the 2026 season. However, Rice was a below average defender when he tried. Luis Garcia and Paul Goldschmidt spent most of the season at first base.
The Yankees need to put their best hitters in the lineup and find a way to preserve Judge’s health as the long-term face of the franchise. Rice will have to spend a large percentage of the season playing defense for the team to have a viable chance at MLB success.
One constant issue for the Yankees in recent years is the defense failing them. Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays saw errors contributing to an embarrassing sweep to end the World Series hopes.
How Stanton Could Be The Odd Man Out
Stanton was named by the NY Times as another huge concern after he missed most of the season. The aging and slow Stanton will likely have to DH every time he plays, which made the emergence of Spencer Jones a big help.
The Yankees can only have so many players who are better off as the DH. Rice struggling to improve defensively can see Stanton getting cut in the offseason. This requires the Yankees to lose some money, but they are splitting his contract with the Miami Marlins.
Judge playing more DH is the biggest change coming to the Yankees. If Rice needs some time at DH too, the entire roster will need to be flipped upside down. Stanton is the name most likely to get moved, but Rice has the most pressure on him to fix the issue.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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