Now three seasons into their reemergence as a baseball powerhouse, the are still looking to get over the hump and win their first World Series championship since 2009. Their 2019 season ended in heartbreak, with hitting a walk-off home run in Game 6 of the ALCS, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the start to everyone's 2020 campaign."I think we have a really talented group that is definitely focused on trying to be the best team in the game," . "I think our guys are hungry and regardle s of the amount of games played. If put in the position to do so, they're going to compete in the best of their ability because they want what they feel they're capable of achieving, which is a championship." has scheduled a 60-game season beginning next month -- the Yankees are against the defending World Series champion Nationals in Washington D.C. on July 23 -- so this season will be a sprint, not a marathon. On paper, the Yankees are on the short list of the best teams in baseball. Will it play out that way acro s 60 games? We're going to find out. Let's Giovanni Fiore Kids Jersey preview the shortened 2020 season in the Bronx.Win total projection, odds2020 Sportsline projection: 37-23World Series odds (via William Hill Sportsbook): +3502019 record: 103-59 (lost in ALCS)Projected lineup2B RF CF DH SS C 1B 3B LF Bench:C , IF , Jean-Sebastien Giguere Kids Jersey IF/OF , OF LeMahieu and Judge in the 1-2 spots were a staple last season and there's no reason to believe manager Aaron Boone will change it up this year. The 3-7 spots are a little more up in the air. The Yankees like to squeeze a lefty hitter between Judge and Stanton, two strikeout-prone righties, and the switch-hitting Hicks is the natural fit with his strong on-base percentages. Generally speaking, the Yankees could list those players in the 3-7 spots in whatever order and it'd look pretty good. Even with a 30-man roster to begin the season, slugging first baseman and former top outfield prospect get squeezed down onto the taxi squad. They're the first wave of reinforcements. Projected rotationRHP LHP RHP LHP J.A. HappLHP had Tommy John surgery in February and will mi s the season. That clears a rotation spot for Montgomery, who was very good as a rookie in 2017, but mi sed most of 2018 and 2019 with his own Tommy John procedure. The Yankees used an opener several times last season and figure to do so again should a need arise this year. , and top pitching prospects and are the depth starters behind the top five.Projected bullpenCloser: LHP Setup: RHP , LHP Middle: RHP , RHP , RHP Long: RHP , RHP Jonathan LoaisigaThe Yankees Julius Nattinen Kids Jersey have a very deep bullpen -- Green and Kahnle would be the closer-setup man tandem for more than a few teams and they're the fourth and fifth options in New York's bullpen -- and Boone uses it aggre sively. Only seven teams got more innings from their bullpen last year, and the Yankees managed that while never once using a reliever three consecutive days during the regular season. Veterans , and , and various youngsters (Garcia, King, Schmidt, etc.) are the depth arms.The new aceAfter handing out over $400 million in contract guarantees to Tanaka, Carlos Beltran, and during the 2013-14 offseason, the Yankees sat out the big money free-agent market for a few years. They pa sed on and years ago and , and more recently. Their biggest free-agent splash from 2014-19 was bringing Chapman back on a five-year deal worth $86 million. The Yankees went back to being the Yankees this past winter. They outbid the and for Cole, the 2019 AL Cy Young runner-up and the best starting pitcher to hit free agency since in 2015. The cost: $324 million acro s nine years. It is the richest pitching contract in history by nearly $80 million, topping the $245 million deal the Nationals gave only a few days earlier."If you're going to do it, it needs to be a guy like this," about giving Cole a record-setting contract back in December. "He's a special human being. So many good qualities about him. It's going to be a great nine years, I think."Cole, 29, is on the short list of the game's best pitchers. He led the American League in ERA (2.50), ERA+ (185) and FIP (2.64) last season. His 326 strikeouts were the most by a right-handed pitcher since Nolan Ryan struck out 341 batters in 1977, and his 39.9 percent strikeout rate is the highest in history among pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. The Yankees imported a no-doubt ace in his prime. They also took Cole away from the , the team that beat them in two of the last three ALCS's and knocked them out of Rickard Rakell Women Jersey the postseason three times in the last five years. Cole bumps everyone in the rotation down a peg -- Paxton slots in nicely as the No. 2 rather than the No. 1, etc. -- and everyone knows why he was signed. It's about getting over the hump and winning a World Series with a core that has been close, and is as ready to win as it's going to get."We have an incredible team right here, right now. What happens three years from now, you can never predict," Steinbrenner said in December. "Clearly I felt it was time to strike to really get that final big piece that can make a difference with the way things have been going. ... We need to win some world championships and I believe we're going to do that, sooner than later. I believe that. Plural."Will they stay healthy?The Yankees sent an MLB record 30 different players to the injured list last season and their 3,154 man games lost to injury were not only the most in baseball (by more than 800), they were the most by any team in at least four years. Severino made three starts, Stanton was limited to 18 games, Korbinian Holzer Men Jersey Andujar didn't play after May, and on and on it went. Still, the Yankees won 103 games and the AL East title. Their ability to dig up surprise contributors (Urshela, , etc.) is unrivaled. The 2019 injury bug carried over to 2020 before the shutdown. Severino blew out his elbow and had Tommy John surgery. Hicks had Tommy John surgery last October and was due to mi s the first half of the year. Paxton had back surgery in February and was expected to mi s eight weeks. Stanton tweaked his calf in camp. Most troubling, Judge was still dealing with what was eventually diagnosed as a rib fracture when he reported to spring training. The injury happened when he dove Trevor Zegras Kids Jersey for a ball last September.Had the 2020 season started as scheduled on March 26, the Yankees would've been without Hicks, Judge, Paxton, Severino and Stanton. That won't be the case now. . . Hicks has continued to progre s with his rehab and is taking full batting practice, indicating he'll be ready to go for spring training 2.0. Aaron Hicks has returned to , and it looks like his recovery from Tommy John surgery is going well. BP video via Instagram story: Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) Judge's injury has continued to linger but there was a positive update