As Cody Bellinger sat on the podium for a press convention after reporting to Yankees camp, he tried to give attention to what he and Paul Goldschmidt can present.
Not what their new crew misplaced after the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in final 12 months’s World Sequence.
“For me and Paul, it’s not necessarily replacing anybody, but coming in and performing to our best capability,” Bellinger stated. “We know what our best capability is. If we reach those levels, then I think that it could be fun.”
That remark got here with apparent context: Juan Soto is now not a Yankee.
Truthful or not, Bellinger and Goldschmidt are seen as the boys primarily accountable for filling the Soto-sized gap within the pinstripers’ lineup. Even Hal Steinbrenner quipped that the previous MVPs — the most important bats the Bombers added within the wake of Soto’s $765 million defection to the Mets — may make up for a “good deal” of the celebrity’s output.
That might be simpler stated than performed, particularly with Giancarlo Stanton’s elbows creating one other void within the lineup.
Bellinger, acquired from the Cubs, has been inconsistent and missed numerous time since profitable his MVP in 2019, although he’s coming off two strong seasons with the Cubs. The 37-year-old Goldschmidt, who gained his MVP in 2022, signed a one-year deal following the worst 12 months of his profession.
Can the 2 flip the clock again sufficient throughout their first seasons in pinstripes?
Each gamers have loved productive springs, although Goldschmidt has been coping with a sore again. He doesn’t anticipate it to jeopardize his standing for Opening Day, and Aaron Boone beforehand stated the primary baseman is in “impeccable shape” as he tries to stave off Father Time.
Bellinger, in the meantime, has a left-handed swing suited to Yankee Stadium. He’ll even be tasked with taking part in heart area.
“I’m confident that he’s going to elevate our club,” Boone stated.
The Yankees’ contingency plans weren’t constructed round simply these two hitters. One may even argue they had been secondary items to a run-prevention technique that noticed the membership double down on pitching with the additions of Max Fried and Devin Williams.
Fried agreed to an eight-year, $218 million take care of the Yankees two days after Soto spurned them. That contract, the biggest assure ever for a lefty, already made Fried the face of the Yanks’ post-Soto pivot. That was earlier than Gerrit Cole had his 2025 season robbed by Tommy John surgical procedure.
Now Fried is the crew’s de facto ace, although Carlos Rodón will begin on Opening Day to maintain schedules intact.
“He’s been a sponge,” Boone stated of Fried, who spent the primary eight years of his profession in Atlanta. “He’s been really open to everything our pitching guys have thrown at him. Getting down here, you can tell he’s made a real investment in getting to know his teammates and the people in the building and coaches and staff and people that are going to be helpful to him. To me, his transition seems very seamless so far.”
Williams, however, didn’t have probably the most seamless transition after being acquired from the Brewers. His dissatisfaction with the Yankees’ longstanding grooming coverage performed a component in Steinbrenner’s surprising resolution to allow well-groomed beards, an modification Williams has taken benefit of.
Extra importantly, Williams provides the Yankees considered one of baseball’s finest closers after Luke Weaver needed to change Clay Holmes within the function final season. With Weaver again in a multi-inning fireman function and Williams throwing his air-bending changeup within the ninth, the Yankees’ bullpen — which additionally added Fernando Cruz — ought to be capable to shorten video games regularly.
“He’s a Mercedes,” Boone stated of Williams. The supervisor used the identical phrase to explain Fried.
With two Benzes and some classics now parked of their storage, the Yankees are hoping they gained’t miss Soto an excessive amount of, although just a few of their different automobiles have been totaled or want work. They’re additionally hoping they’ll return to the World Sequence — and win all of it — with a really completely different roster than the one which fell quick in sloppy style final 12 months.
“What he provided was very special,” Boone stated of Soto, however the skipper added, “There’s a lot of ways to build an outstanding team.”
