New York Yankees 2025-2026 Offseason Outlook

New York had the best offense in baseball by wRC+ and OPS this past season. They have to make additional moves, though, to remain at the upper echelon of the league in offensive production.

The biggest free agent for the Yankees this offseason is Cody Bellinger, who boasts a ton of versatility, as he can play right Field, center field, left field, and first base. Bellinger and his agent, Scott Boras, know that this most likely will be the last opportunity for him to cash in on a lucrative long-term contract this offseason. Why not after putting up a 4.9 Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement, 125 wRC+, and a .813 OPS season?

There’s also Trent Grisham, who’s coming off a great regular season with a 129 wRC+, .811 OPS, 34 home runs, and 74 RBI. This is an outlier offensive season until further notice, as he’s never had over a .740 OPS in a full season in his major league career.

Grisham also coincidentally had his worst defensive season in a season where he had his best offensive season and was a near All-Star. He graded out with -11 Defensive Runs Saved, -2 Outs Above Average, and -3 Fielding Run Value in 1,113 innings out there in his 29-year-old season.

Another massive free agent for New York this offseason is Devin Williams, who had a very tumultuous season in the Bronx after being traded from the Milwaukee Brewers. He instantly came in and struggled, almost blew a save against his former team on opening day, and really struggled with his command. Williams, for a good amount of the season, just wasn’t able to generate whiffs/strikeouts like he normally would, especially on his “airbender” changeup.

Williams had stretches of brilliance with the Yankees, but paired with those were blown saves and near-blown saves. Despite all of that, he still had the unwavering confidence and belief from his manager, Aaron Boone. There’s a really good player still in Williams, as by the end of the season, he was able to regain his All-Star form down the stretch into the postseason.

At season’s end, Williams had a 34.7% strikeout rate, a 35% chase rate, and a 37.7% whiff rate as well.

Positions The Yankees Need To Address

The Yankees have massive holes in the outfield currently, and they also have to decide on whether either Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones will be starting for them.

General Manager Brian Cashman has an abundance of ways he can go about fixing the outfield solution this offseason. He can re-sign Bellinger, sign Kyle Tucker, or make a big-time trade for either Byron Buxton or Luis Robert Jr.

New York also has a couple of question marks in the starting rotation, which, when fully healthy, actually looks pretty good on paper. That rotation would be Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlittler, and Clarke Schmidt. The problem with that is that Cole and Schmidt are still recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Rodon is recovering from elbow surgery to remove a bone spur.

The rotation currently would be Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, Will Warren, and either a prospect like Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz or a cheap back-of-the-end rotation guy.

New York has recently been rumored to be in the Michael King sweepstakes, which would be intriguing as a former Yankee with excellent stuff, but he’s also dealt with his fair share of injuries.

According to Randy Miller, who is not beloved by Yankee fans to say the very least, he mentions Paul Skenes as being reportedly keen on the idea of joining New York in the future. That would be absolutely massive, as the 22-year-old superstar is undoubtedly a top-five pitcher in the sport. He just won the National League Cy Young award and would make the Yankees incredibly scary. Skenes’ girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, is from the New Jersey area. I mean, the dots are somewhat connected, but it still seems incredibly unlikely, though.

I’m just not sure if the Yankees have enough ammo to trade for Skenes; they would probably have to trade some major league talent, and the Pittsburgh Pirates still have four more years of team control.

New York was also just named as one of the favorites for Tatsuya Imai, who is a very intriguing 27-year-old Japanese pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball. Imai will reportedly be posted on November 19th. Scouts mention him as someone who can throw in the 94-99 MPH range with a devastating slider and improved command.

The Elephant In The Room, The Bullpen

The Yankees had a massive issue this past season when it came to their bullpen. Williams struggled, Luke Weaver missed a good portion of time, and a vast majority of their other relievers were either injured or not very good.

Cashman knew that they had a big-time hole to fill, which is why, during the trade deadline, he traded for David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates, who was great for them. The Yankees then traded for Camilo Doval from the San Francisco Giants, who had his ups and downs. They also traded for Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies, who was so bad that he got sent down almost immediately to Triple-A. New York seems to have their current closer in David Bednar, but what about everybody else?

The Yankees could pivot to a couple of New York Mets high-end relievers, like the elite Edwin Diaz or Ryan Helsley, who struggled mightily for the aforementioned Mets.

The Yankees could also try to sign 35-year-old Robert Suarez, formerly of the San Diego Padres, as well.

The End Of My New York Yankees Rant

The Yankees can’t stand pat with 33-year-old Judge, 35-year-old Gerrit Cole, and 36-year-old Giancarlo Stanton on the roster. The ball is in your court this offseason, Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner. The Yankees GM also relayed that payroll is not an issue, so let’s see how they approach this offseason.