TAMPA, Fla. -- When Aaron Boone added his swirling signature to the bottom of a lineup card last Thursday for what would prove to be the Yankees’ final exhibition game of the spring, the manager had a rough outline in his mind of what the Opening Day roster would look like.

Now that Opening Day has been pushed back at least eight weeks by the coronavirus pandemic, the Bombers’ roster doesn’t seem quite so predictable. For example, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton had both been ruled out for March 26, but the slugging outfielders now have plenty of time to rest and rehab their injuries.

“That’s one thing that at least is a little bit exciting about it, but it’s tempered from a baseball standpoint that we were two weeks from go time,” Boone said on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio. “There’s so much that goes into that point of Spring Training. All of a sudden, to have to throttle back from a baseball standpoint is rough, but there’s no question for those guys to get a chance to continue to heal and rest -- that’s a good thing.”

Here is a look at what the Yankees were evaluating when baseball paused last week, and how the delay could affect their future decisions.

Outfield
With Judge (stress fracture of right rib) and Stanton (strained right calf) thought to be unavailable, the Yankees projected to begin the season with Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman as their Opening Day outfield, while experimenting with Miguel Andújar as a part-time left fielder.

Now that Judge and Stanton are expected to be healthy, the Yanks’ outfield resets to where it was in early February. Gardner would see regular duty in center field (unless the season begins in June or July, in which case Aaron Hicks might be ready to return from Tommy John surgery), with Judge in right field and Stanton splitting time between left field and designated hitter.

Because Tauchman is an excellent defender and capable of backing up at all three positions, the odd man out would likely be Frazier, who appeared primed to take advantage of an opportunity for playing time. Frazier hit .320 (8-for-25) with four doubles, a homer and two RBIs in 12 spring games.

Fourth/fifth starter
Jordan Montgomery had the inside track on the No. 4 rotation slot, with Boone raving about an uptick in velocity that the Yankees attributed to better offseason training and being further removed from his June 2018 Tommy John surgery. The fifth slot was still up for grabs, and there was speculation that the Yankees could configure their schedule to allow Chad Green and/or Jonathan Loaisiga to serve as openers or piggyback starters.

The first three spots in the rotation remain locked for Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ, and Montgomery’s strong performance likely keeps him in the starting five. He could be pushed down to No. 5, however, because James Paxton has resumed throwing following February back surgery. Paxton has said that his best-case scenario to pitch in Major League games would be mid-May, with June even more likely.

Paxton’s return would impact the cast of candidates battling for the final spot, though Loaisiga could easily slide into a role as a multi-inning reliever. Deivi Garcia, David Hale and Clarke Schmidt were among those viewed as still being in the competition.

Bullpen
Most of the Yankees’ bullpen seemed to be set, with spots on the 13-man staff reserved for Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Luis Cessa, Green, Tommy Kahnle and Adam Ottavino. That, plus a five-man rotation, would leave two open spaces for some combination of Hale, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Loaisiga, Tyler Lyons or Dan Otero.

As previously mentioned, Loaisiga seemed likely to take one of the slots, as Boone was enthralled with the righty’s velocity and movement. The other leader seemed to be the left-handed Lyons, who struck out seven over 4 1/3 scoreless frames. Lyons was on the postseason roster in 2019, but his 2020 status as a non-roster invitee could sway the Yanks to instead go with a 40-man roster choice in Holder (3 1/3 scoreless innings).

Bench
Kyle Higashioka was all but guaranteed the job of backing up catcher Gary Sánchez, though there was uncertainty about how the remaining three spots would look. In addition to Andújar, who seemed to be a lock, Mike Ford offered a big-swinging left-handed bat but limited versatility other than to back up Luke Voit at first base and serve as an occasional DH.

Thairo Estrada and Tyler Wade offered athleticism and versatility, including the ability to play shortstop, which seemed important considering Gleyber Torres committed five errors in a rocky defensive spring. They were being pushed by non-roster invitee Rosell Herrera, who played six positions last year for the Marlins and was batting .400 (10-for-25) when the music stopped.

The anticipated return of Judge and Stanton would bump some of those names down the depth chart, placing Tauchman on the bench as a fourth outfielder. It’s unlikely the Yankees would carry Frazier as a fifth outfielder, so the final decision could come down to Ford, Estrada, Herrera or Wade for one spot -- assuming the health of 25 other guys, which hasn’t exactly been a Yankees strength over the last calendar year.