The New York Yankees’ offense is looking much, much better right now than it did at any point of last season.

The official games that actually count haven’t started yet, but given the names at manager Aaron Boone’s disposal, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the lineup.

When you have two generational hitting talents like Aaron Judge and Juan Soto leading the charge, good things will happen.

They are not only excellent hitters, but instead, elite players.

That can be measured, to some extent, by Wins Above Replacement, or WAR.

WAR is basically how much better or worse than a replacement-level player someone is, and it’s measured in wins (above replacement).

The projections say that Judge and Soto will both be in the top-three in MLB when the 2024 campaign is over.

“Juan Soto & Aaron Judge are projected to rank 2nd + 3rd in MLB in position player WAR, per Steamer. Yankees duos to rank top-3 in position player fWAR in a season: Charlie Keller + Joe Gordon, 1942; Lou Gehrig + Babe Ruth, 1926-28, ‘30-’32; Gehrig + Joe DiMaggio, ‘37,” MLB stats expert Sarah Langs tweeted.

Juan Soto & Aaron Judge are projected to rank 2nd + 3rd in MLB in position player WAR, per Steamer

Yankees duos to rank top-3 in position player fWAR in a season:

Charlie Keller + Joe Gordon, 1942
Lou Gehrig + Babe Ruth, 1926-28, ‘30-’32
Gehrig + Joe DiMaggio, ‘37 https://t.co/1Z49YUIMuC

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 5, 2024

Judge and Soto, if they perform as expected and remain relatively healthy all year, will become the fourth Yankees duo to rank in the top-three in position player fWAR (the “f” indicates FanGraphs’ version of the stat).

As you can see, no Yankees duo has achieved this since 1942, and we are talking about a franchise filled with all-time greats.

There is more to an offense than just two hitters, but the hope is that the duo’s ability and production helps open things up for other batters to join the party.