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2025-26 MLB Offseason Recap: New York Yankees

Originally posted on New Baseball Media
By Chris Studley | Last updated Mar 9, 2026 12:04 AM ET

Over the past few seasons (and decades, to be honest), the New York Yankees have been a regular when it comes to offseason activity. However, this past winter was a quieter one. Yes, the Yankees made moves. But in terms of total new additions, it’s not a lengthy list of fresh faces for 2026.

Additions

The big pickup of the winter was Ryan Weathers, the Marlins starter whom the Yankees acquired in a relatively large deal this winter. Weathers cost the Yankees prospect depth, although none of the marquee prospects were involved in the deal.

Weathers has breakout potential written all over him. A hard-throwing lefty with swing-and-miss stuff, the trick with Weathers has been health. He’s got the weapons to work both lefties and righties. But at the MLB level, he’s yet to throw 100 or more innings in a single season.

Additionally, Osvaldo Bido, who was shared among one-fifth of the teams in the Majors this winter via the waiver wire, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees.

The Yankees also acquired relief pitcher depth. Brian Cashman made another trade with the Rockies, as he sent first baseman T.J. Rumfield for hard-throwing reliever Angel Chivilli.

When that trade happened, Chivilli appeared poised to be one of those true project pitchers. A reliever with velocity and good secondary stuff, his fastball was pounded last season. Sure, one could attribute that to the surroundings. However, Chivilli didn’t have a great feel for it (weird to write), as it didn’t have much riding or running action whatsoever.

(via New Baseball Media)

To this point, we’ve seen whether Chivilli has any discernible differences with the fastball. His fastball doesn’t have that pop yet in terms of rising action. It still has more drop than anything else, although the velocity has been fine thus far.

Aside from the listed names above, the Yankees worked the Minor League contract market. Outfielder Randal Grichuk and reliever Rafael Montero were among the team’s late pickups.

Losses

This list is considerably shorter than it could have been.

Ryan Yarbrough, who pitched very well for the Yankees last season as an innings-eating starter, re-signed with the team in late November after he went to market. Paul Blackburn, who joined the team late last season, also re-signed to give the Yankees more rotation depth.

That trend continued with the group of hitters. Trent Grisham accepted his qualifying offer, midseason pickup Amed Rosario re-signed, and Cody Bellinger struck around after what was a very good season in The Bronx last season.

Paul Goldschmidt, who raked against lefties last season, is also back for 2026.

As for who’s gone, the duo of Luke Weaver and Devin Williams went south of the Whitestone Bridge to Queens.

Weaver had a great two seasons with the Yankees, as he went from a depth add to a critical reliever. Williams, meanwhile, bounced back in the summer after a brutal stretch as the Yankees’ closer in the early weeks of the 2025 season.

Despite all of that, Williams still rated as one of the top-half overall relievers from a statistical standpoint — even though he blew several saves for the Yankees in 2025.

Overview

Is this still a playoff team on paper? Absolutely. Do the Yankees have a chance at making it to the World Series? Yes. But is this roster very similar to 2025, a season where the Yankees came up short in the playoffs? Yes.

While one can argue this isn’t a true “run it back” season for the Yankees for several reasons (some new faces, plus a pending return for Gerrit Cole), the tentative 26-man roster for Opening Day 2026 will mostly be made up of familiar faces.

This will be a season where the Yankees will have to lean on those internal options. Giancarlo Stanton‘s lingering elbow issues haven’t gone away, and that will have to be managed. Additionally, Anthony Volpe and Cole will start 2026 on the injured list.

Thus, the onus will not be just on the stars of the team, like Aaron Judge and Max Fried, but also on the likes of Jose Caballero and Will Warren, players who will need to contribute significantly to fill the holes of injured players.

This article first appeared on New Baseball Media and was syndicated with permission.

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