MLB insider identifies 3 Yankees players crucial to success beyond Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger in post-Juan Soto era

Juan Soto has left the New York Yankees and so has his elite production. Now, the onus is on Aaron Judge and his teammates to fill the void. Among the notable players in the Yankees lineup capable of delivering solid performance are their captain, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger.

However, this may not be enough, which is why MLB insider Joel Sherman identified three Yankees hitters who need to step up both defensively and offensively for the team to make another deep postseason run in 2025:

"For the Yankees to step positively past Juan Soto — yeah, Cody Bellinger’s got to be good, Goldschmidt’s got to be good, Judge has got to stay healthy — but right there, if you were making a case, who’s Anthony Volpe? Who’s Austin Wells? Who’s Jasson Domínguez?" Sherman said on the Pinstripe Podcast (45:24).

Sherman said that the production from these three players is where the Yankees can make a difference since all of them earn around minimum salary. He even set specific combined production goals for them to achieve:

"Is it like 60 combined homers, 50 combined stolen bases, a .725 OPS, and good defense all around — Volpe at shortstop, Wells at catcher, and Domínguez in the outfield? Does that do it? I think it does," Sherman added. "I think that, as a baseline, does it. That’s not asking for astronomical, Martian-level stuff. But we have real questions about who all three of those guys profile as offensively."

How Joel Sherman's three mentioned players performed for the Yankees in 2024?

Starting with Austin Wells, the Yankees catcher batted .229 with 81 hits, 13 homers, 55 RBIs and 42 runs scored in 115 games.

Next, outfielder Jasson Dominguez hit only .179 with 10 hits, two homers, four RBIs and eight runs scored in 18 games.

Finally, shortstop Anthony Volpe posted a .243 batting average with 155 hits, 12 homers and 60 RBIs in 160 games.

Combined, these three players' production totals just 27 home runs, far below Sherman's expectations for 2025. However, Dominguez missed nearly the entire season, and if we account for his full-season projection, the combined home run tally might increase to 40-45 home runs. Still, this falls short of Sherman's goals.

Ultimately, the performance of these three hitters could be crucial in determining how long the Yankees remain competitive in 2025.