Yankees 2019 Predictions: Aaron Judge's MVP Candidacy, Summer Trades, Challenging Red Sox In AL East

No one has higher expectations in the 2019 MLB season than the New York Yankees. They are the sole favorites to win the World Series, according to the betting odds on Opening Day, and the team is looking to make up for a disappointing end to last year.

It's been a decade since the Yankees last won a championship. Aside from the wild card game, New York has won just one playoff series over the last six years.

The Boston Red Sox eliminated New York at Yankee Stadium the 2018 ALDS before going on to win the World Series. With just about all of their key players returning, will the Yankees be able to return the favor this season?

Here are three predictions for the Yankees in the 2019 season:

Aaron Judge will win the AL MVP award

It’s not exactly going out on a limb to suggest Judge will be the AL’s best player this season. He was the MVP runner-up as a rookie in 2017, and there’s a case to be made that he should’ve won the award over Jose Altuve. Despite 50 missing games because of a fractured wrist, the outfielder hit 27 home runs with a .919 OPS in 2018. Now that he’s healthy, expect Judge’s OPS to be north of 1.000 as he comes close to replicating his 52 home run season from two years ago.

The Yankees will trade for a starting pitcher this summer

It’s almost become an annual tradition that the Yankees trade for an impactful starting pitcher in July. Two years ago, New York acquired Sonny Gray, who was just a season and a half removed from finishing third in the AL Cy Young voting. Last season, the Yankees acquired J.A. Happ after he was named to the All-Star team. New York has question marks all over their rotation, and they are already behind the eight-ball with an injury to Luis Severino. Expect rumors to link the Yankees to Madison Bumgarner for the next few months.

New York will finish ahead of Boston win the AL East

It's not reasonable to expect the Red Sox to have another 108-win season, or even for them to come close to replicating that kind of success in 2019. The 2018 season was a special one for Boston, but New York also managed to win 100 games. Trading for James Paxton and having both Happ and Zack Britton for the whole year will make the Yankees better. The Red Sox didn’t bring in any new pieces because they have the highest payroll in baseball. The Yankees are the World Series favorites for a reason, and they should be disappointed if they finish behind the defending champs.