The Yankees didn’t waste time after shedding out on Juan Soto.
Shortly after the celebrity slugger left them for a record-setting contract with the crosstown Mets, the Yankees pivoted with 4 important strikes.
Their signing of left-handed ace Max Fried gave the Yankees one of many deepest rotations in baseball, even with Roki Sasaki’s determination to not signal with them.
Their commerce for shutdown nearer Devin Williams bolstered a bullpen that struggled to complete video games for a lot of final season, permitting postseason sensation Luke Weaver to return to his beneficial fireman function.
Their commerce for Cody Bellinger permitted Aaron Choose to maneuver again to proper area after shifting to heart final season to accommodate Soto. The lefty-swinging Bellinger ought to hit towards the highest of the order and supply above-average protection in both heart or left, relying on the place the Yankees deploy Jasson Domínguez.
And their signing of 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt seems to offer an enchancment at first base, even with the 2022 Nationwide League MVP coming off of a career-worst season.
Nobody participant will be capable to substitute the left-handed Soto, whose unbelievable mixture of on-base abilities and energy proved to be an ideal complement to Choose’s right-handed bat.
However the Yankees have an opportunity to be extra balanced and basically sound in 2025, with fewer starters enjoying out of place and with constant manufacturing coming from extra spots on the roster.
Baseball Prospectus initiatives the Yankees to have a $302.9 million payroll, accounting for the aggressive steadiness tax, which is tick under final yr’s.
Nonetheless, there’s work to be executed.
Listed below are the Yankees’ largest remaining holes.
Second or third base
Probably the most evident want is within the infield, the place second baseman Gleyber Torres left in free company for a one-year, $15 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees can shift Jazz Chisholm Jr. again to second base, his pure place, or maintain him at third, the place he performed following final yr’s midseason arrival and graded effectively defensively.
That versatility presents the Yankees the flexibleness to pursue each second and third basemen and plug Chisholm into whichever place they don’t fill.
Third baseman Alex Bregman is the highest remaining free agent at both place, and his regular glove would match the Yankees’ emphasis on protection. However Bregman’s pull-heavy, right-handed bat shouldn’t be a really perfect match for Yankee Stadium, whereas the nine-figure contract he’s anticipated to command doubtless costs him out of the Bronx.
More cost effective suits at second base embody Jorge Polanco, who’s coming off a career-worst season during which he hit .213 with 16 homers for Seattle; and Brendan Rodgers, who hit .267 with 13 homers for Colorado.
Rodgers, the No. 3 general decide in 2015, continues to be solely 28, and he gained a Gold Glove at second base in 2022. However his vary and arm power each graded within the backside twenty fifth percentile final season, in response to Baseball Savant.
Inner choices embody 36-year-old DJ LeMahieu, who hit .204 with a career-worst .527 OPS throughout an injury-plagued 2024 season, as effectively children Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza.
Probably the most intriguing match is San Diego Padres infielder Luiz Arráez, whom the Yankees have reportedly mentioned buying and selling for.
Arráez is taken into account a poor defender and baserunner — shortcomings that plagued Torres — however he’s a profession .323 hitter who has gained three consecutive batting titles.
Leadoff hitter
Arráez presents a clean segue to the Yankees’ next-biggest want, as they’re but to determine a transparent substitute for Torres as their leadoff hitter.
Whether or not the Yankees bat the right-handed Choose second within the order and the lefty-swinging Bellinger third or vice versa may depend upon who claims the No. 1 spot.
Arráez — and his profession .372 on-base share — suits effectively as a lefty-hitting table-setter for Choose.
Chisholm, who additionally hits lefty, has the pace to steer off, however his profession .311 on-base share makes him a less-ideal match.
Similar goes for Anthony Volpe, who bats right-handed and has the traits of a top-of-the-order hitter, however whose .293 on-base share final season would want to enhance.
One other inner choice might be the switch-hitting Domínguez, who boasts a .373 on-base share in 353 minor-league video games. He’s but to reveal that form of manufacturing on the MLB stage, nonetheless, albeit in a small pattern.
Left-handed reliever
The Yankees wouldn’t have a left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster. That figures to vary earlier than the beginning of the season.
A reunion with Tim Hill, who’s a free agent, is smart after the sidewinder pitched to a 2.05 ERA over 44 innings with the Yankees final season.
The Yankees signed Hill, who turns 35 subsequent month, in June after the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox launched him. Hill was significantly efficient in the course of the Yankees’ World Sequence run, posting a 1.08 ERA throughout 10 playoff appearances.
Different obtainable lefty relievers in a slow-moving market embody Andrew Chafin, who has a 3.42 ERA over 11 MLB seasons, and A.J. Minter, a backend staple of the Atlanta Braves who’s coming off of season-ending hip surgical procedure.
Brooks Raley, who was among the many Mets’ most reliable relievers in 2023 and received off to a robust begin final yr, underwent an inner brace process on his left elbow in Could and isn’t anticipated again till the summer season.
Backup catcher
Jose Trevino was an All-Star and a Platinum Glove Award winner with the Yankees in 2022, however the veteran catcher turned expendable with final season’s breakout of Austin Wells.
Thus, the Yankees traded Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds final month for a high-upside reliever in Fernando Cruz and a light-hitting catcher in Alex Jackson.
The commerce additional solidified Wells because the Yankees’ main catcher, but it surely additionally left them and not using a clear backup.
Jackson, a .132 hitter over 5 MLB seasons, is on the 40-man roster, as is J.C. Escarra, a transformed infielder who hit .302 with eight dwelling runs and a .930 OPS in 52 video games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre final season. Each are 29 and bat right-handed.
Take into account that Ben Rice, who got here up as a primary baseman final season, is a catcher by commerce, however he, like Wells, bats left-handed. If the Yankees are snug carrying two lefty-swinging catchers, Rice would additionally provide depth at first base whereas giving the Yankees a bat they like off the bench.
Further be aware
In a transfer that doesn’t fill any of the above holes however does enhance the organizational depth, the Yankees reached a minor-league contract with former Mets first-round decide Dominic Smith, in response to reviews.
Smith, 29, is a profession .246 hitter with 64 dwelling runs and a .717 OPS over eight MLB seasons, together with six with the Mets. He has primarily performed first base and left area.
Initially drafted No. 11 general in 2013, the lefty-swinging Smith completed thirteenth in Nationwide League MVP voting with the Mets in the course of the COVID-shortened 2020 season, throughout which he hit .316 with 10 homers, 42 RBI and a .993 OPS in 199 plate appearances.
He batted .233 with six homers and a .691 OPS in 93 video games with the Boston Pink Sox and Cincinnati Reds final season.
