Rating your Yankees hot takes

Q: What are the Yankees' chances of achieving a 105-win season?

The Yankees are currently off to a strong start, tied for the second-most wins in the league, making a 105-win season a bold yet plausible prediction.

Q: How is Aaron Judge performing this season?

Aaron Judge, despite being 34, continues to perform at a high level, coming off two MVP seasons and maintaining strong offensive metrics.

Q: Who is Ben Rice and why is he gaining attention?

Ben Rice is a first baseman for the Yankees who has hit 10 home runs this season, placing him among the league leaders and drawing MVP discussions.

Q: What makes Cam Schlittler a standout pitcher this season?

Cam Schlittler leads MLB with a 1.7 fWAR and boasts impressive stats, including a low walk rate and a FIP of 1.53, positioning him as a top pitching candidate.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 26: Cody Bellinger #35 celebrates with Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker/Getty Images) | Getty Images Last week, Andrew put out a post on our feed asking for your hot takes, and you all delivered. With the Yankees rolling and on their way to another competitive season, there’s plenty of things to get ambitious about, so let’s see what’s got you all fired up after a month or so of play.

We’re starting off bold here, Hector. A 105-win season would easily top the output of any recent Yankees team, with only the 2019 team’s 103-win total coming close. There’s also been a dearth of 100+ win teams overall recently, with no one reaching the mark in the last two years. This year’s team is off to a solid start, tied for the second-most amount of wins in the league and clicking without two of their top pitchers as you noted, but maintaining that pace is a taller task than meeting it for a moment. This is a solid hot take. Now we’re getting into it. Aaron Judge has just turned 34, to be fair — an age that most would agree is where an athlete exits or starts to exit their prime — but he’s coming off of two consecutive MVP campaigns and not shown any signs of slowing down thus far this season. Yes, the batting average isn’t where it was last season when Judge was spraying hard-hit balls and finding the outfield grass with regularity while winning his first batting crown, but he’s getting his walks and driving the ball at the same elite level that he’s been playing at since 2022. Realistically, the at-least-soft decline it has to come at some point, and the Yankees have more than recouped enough value already out of the contract they inked Judge to in 2023 to justify whatever depreciation in his game comes in those later years. But will it start now, in 2026? I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s certainly a hot take to claim that we are. is putting himself in the national spotlight, isn’t he? The first baseman has been the Robin to Judge’s Batman in the lineup, crushing his 10th home run on Monday to move himself into a tie with James Wood for the third-most homers in the league. Only (who’s been a hell of a steal for the thus far), , and Judge have slugged more out of the park, and only Alvarez has a higher OPS than Rice with a narrow lead (1.220 for Alvarez vs. 1.191 for Rice). Offense on a level like that has been the best way to get into MVP discussions of late, and Rice has become a much-more competent fielder than he was last year so he’s no slouch on that end either — he just likely won’t get much credit for it unless he starts siphoning some games behind the plate as well. Regardless, he’s in good standing to make this a reality. This is a two-parter though, so let’s talk about a little bit shall we? Entering play on Tuesday Schlittler currently leads MLB with 1.7 fWAR, putting him marginally ahead of his own teammate in (1.5) and the likes of reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner and burgeoning Angels ace José Soriano (1.4 each). Soriano has pitched to an absurd 0.24 ERA in six starts, and if he pitches even close to that mark the rest of the way he’d surely draw the eyes of most voters, but Schlittler has actually has a case for surpassing him in the long run: he’s walking just 1.01 batters per nine innings to Soriano’s 3.11, his FIP is a magnificent 1.53 while Soriano runs a (still elite but not as good) 2.23 FIP, and Soriano’s stranding an entirely-unsustainable 100 percent of his baserunners. There’s still plenty of other candidates that’ll be in the field, but Schlittler stands a very good chance of establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game and perhaps winning the hardware in the end. So, we’ve got two takes that on their own sound pretty believable, with the Rice one seeming more likely thanks to the parameters having him finish in the top three as opposed to outright winning. Combined, however? It’s certainly bold to claim that both of the Yankees’ emerging stars will become supernovas in the same season. I don’t think anyone around here would mind if it turned out to be the case. Now we’re getting crazy; this is what we’re here for. has gotten out of his own way on the field, separating his struggles at the plate from his ability to be a Gold Glove caliber defender and providing what the Yankees needed at the hot corner. In the process, finding himself out there might have cleared his head enough to start seeing the ball better at the plate as well, as he’s posted a respectable .757 OPS over his last 15 games. Is that going to spiral all the way into him heating up enough to make the All-Star Game, let alone start it? Highly unlikely, but in the event that it does happen I’ll be going to you for some lotto numbers. From your lips to God’s ears my friend. It’s been a rough couple of years trying to enjoy baseball in the Bronx during the summer, with June and July being a near-guaranteed cliff for the team to jump off of only to pick themselves back up during the dog days and avoid an actual collapse. Surprisingly, the 2022 Yankees managed to avoid a June-specific falloff, which is kind of funny because they’re the team that I associate with the trend becoming established: they actually had their best month of the year with a 22-6 record then! (The Cristian Javier-led combined Astros no-hitter notwithstanding.) Of course, that 2022 squad did do its best to fall out of the division lead later on, and the months of July and August were indeed awful for the Bombers. But it’s funny to look back on the rest of Aaron Boone’s tenure and how the team has performed in the middle of the season with him heading the ship. They started out pretty well all things considered, with Boone’s inaugural season in 2018 being fairly consistent the entire way through and the 2019 team also thriving in that time span. The 2021 team had the first true June swoon, and the last three rosters have all endured it as well, with the 2023 team maintaining the excuse of not having Judge around to buoy the lineup after that fateful encounter with the Dodger Stadium wall. Four out of five seasons suffering from this symptom, with the lone outlier experiencing it just a little later, is a tough track record to beat, but it sure is a hot take to claim they’ll manage just that. Hopefully this is no joke. Considering only out of the 19 members of our own staff here made this pick, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a scorcher of a take! The 17-year title drought has plenty of people pessimistic about the team’s chances to go all the way, but in all seriousness the team is built to compete and has the pieces for a deep run, should they survive the marathon that is an MLB season in good standing. The pitching staff is deeper than they’ve ever had in this era, and perhaps one of the deepest in franchise history, but the bullpen is an obvious flaw that could be their Achilles heel. Luckily, that’s the easiest part of a roster to retool within a season, and they have internal candidates down in the minors should they want to go that route too. There’s only going to be so many more shots the Yankees can take at winning a title with Judge and fronting the championship push before they have to pay the real price of those lofty contracts, but if they can go all the way this year it’ll all be worth it.