The Yankees executed quite a one-day winter.

Spring training, on the other hand, should be compelling nearly every day.

For sure, 100 out of 100 Yankees fans will accept the trade-off of a largely tranquil Hot Stove League in return for the noise registered on Dec. 10, when the team agreed on a record-setting, nine-year, $324 million contract with Gerrit Cole. Combine the poaching of Cole, perhaps the game’s best pitcher, from the rival Astros with the uncertainty surrounding both Houston and the Red Sox due to baseball’s sign-stealing scandal and the Yankees stand as the clear favorites to represent the American League in the World Series.

The road to honoring that status begins at George M. Steinbrenner Field, with pitchers and catchers set to report on Feb. 12, and the spotlight quickly will swing to a handful of players among the ultra-talented group. In particular, these five gentlemen, for disparate reasons, should prepare for intense scrutiny:


1. Giancarlo Stanton. While you might be encouraged by his recent bench-pressing of supermodel Adriana Lima (poor Matt Harvey), you’d feel far better if he can make it healthy to Opening Day with, say, 50 Grapefruit League at-bats on his ledger. One can’t overstate what a disaster Stanton’s 2019 turned out to be, culminating with the offensively starved Yankees keeping him active in the American League Championship Series in the unfulfilled hopes that he could work through yet another injury. The 30-year-old badly needs to avoid a repeat of that nightmare, which in turn puts heat on the Yankees’ new medical and training staff.

2. Miguel Andujar. First of all, is his right shoulder intact after last year’s season-ruining surgery? And if he clears that hurdle, how does he fit on this roster after Gio Urshela took his starting third-base job last year? Andujar will be graded not only by his play at the hot corner, but also quite possibly at first base and in left field. With the rosters expanding to 26, Andujar can provide far more value with such a display of versatility.


3. Gerrit Cole. It used to be an annual tradition here, right around this time of year, to try to predict who the Yankees’ ace would be in the upcoming season. This season, such a parlor game had best be superfluous for the team. For starters, let’s see if Cole can build on the phenomenal first impression he left at his introductory Yankee Stadium news conference and manage the continued spotlight with such poise and good cheer. Don’t forget, either, that the right-hander is coming off a 2019 in which he clocked 249 innings, combining the regular season and playoffs, so the Yankees surely will take it easy with him out of the gate.

4. Clint Frazier. No surprise that he’s back given his diminished trade value, and in projecting Opening Day rosters, you can formulate a viable group of 13 Yankees position players without including Frazier. Hence he’ll need a strong showing in Florida — improved defense and fewer eyebrow-raising social media posts would help — to make the club. Some intrigue still surrounds him, as he’s only 25 and has offered sizable proof he can hit in the big leagues.


5. Adam Ottavino. From the people who brought you Randy Johnson and Tom Gordon, it’s “October Again.” The pitcher reports to The George for his second camp in pinstripes and immediately faces questions about his lousy postseason, which followed a largely successful regular season. Ottavino surely will be asked to relive his ALCS misadventures against the Astros. If he owns what happened, then he’ll be left alone on this matter … until next October comes.

Honorable mention: Gary Sanchez (can he stay healthy and improve defensively under new catching instructor Tanner Swanson?), Gleyber Torres (how will he handle shortstop every day?), Luke Voit (is he back to his old self after offseason surgery?) and J.A. Happ (can he carry over whatever he found last September and contribute as the fifth starter?)

Ref;nypost.com