Projecting Yankees' 2018 Triple-A lineup, rotation

Obviously, need at the major-league level trumps all else. At the moment, the Yankees haven’t named their full time second baseman or third baseman. That’s because they don’t know who they will be yet. Five players stand to have shots at the positions. They are Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade, Ronald Torreyes and (probably) the newly signed Jace Peterson. If the season started today, my gut tells me they would pick Torres, their top prospect, to start at second base. And though Andujar is their top-ranked third base prospect, I’m thinking — and I could be wrong — they would prefer to go with Torreyes at the position currently, since he can handle the position defensively until Andujar shows he’d ready. That would leave the utility infield job to Wade.

Age: 27

2017 stats: MLB: .000 BA, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 9 G; .264 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 14 G

Why: Higashioka will be given a token chance to beat Austin Romine out for the Yankees’ backup catcher’s job, but he has minor-league options remaining. Romine doesn’t.

Age: 26

2017 stats: MLB: .225 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 20 G; Triple-A: .275 BA, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 47 G

Why: Austin stands as the first in line to get a shot at helping the Yankees full-time at first base if Greg Bird goes down again. Austin, however, needs to prove he can stay healthy, too.

Age: 27

2017 stats: MLB: .215 BA, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 89 G; Triple-A: .258 BA, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 34 G

Why: The Yankees just signed Peterson, likely as a fallback should they not add either a third baseman or second baseman this offseason and to battle with Torreyes, since a utility man’s job is never safe.