New York Yankees Receive Excellent Offseason Grade After Impressive Pivot

With spring training moving right along, the offseason is coming to a close for the New York Yankees. 

While the Yankees are dealing with numerous injuries so far in spring training, that doesn’t take away from the excellent work that general manager Brian Cashman did this winter. 

It is generally rare to see as much roster change as New York has had this offseason, considering they won the American League pennant and made the World Series last season. However, this will be a very different-looking team with a whole new style. 

Last campaign, the Yankees felt very reliant on their two superstars in the batting order. While Juan Soto and Aaron Judge were both excellent, the rest of the team was lacking at times. 

This year’s roster is looking more balanced, not only in the lineup, but the pitching staff as well. Even though losing a star is never good, the pivot by New York this winter was impressive. 

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (paid subscription required) recently gave the Yankees an excellent grade of an ‘A’ for their efforts this winter. 

“Losing Juan Soto to the Mets hurt, but the Yankees’ pivot was phenomenal: landing (Max) Fried, trading for impact closer Devin Williams, and adding former MVP Cody Bellinger," he wrote.

It certainly seemed like New York did all they could to keep Soto in the Bronx. With a massive contract being declined by the young star to leave for the New York Mets, the pivot by the Yankees was really impressive. 

Since Soto was such a big part of the lineup, the additions of Paul Goldschmidt and Bellinger will have a lot of pressure on them to succeed. However, both have high upside as former MVPs, with Goldschmidt also being a massive positional upgrade at first base. 

Furthermore, the Yankees also have a lot of young talent in the lineup that should be taking a step forward as well to help replace that production. Players like Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Jasson Dominguez will all have the opportunity to solidify themselves in the batting order. 

For the pitching staff, adding Fried gives the Yankees a dominant one-two punch at the top of the rotation. Also, the addition of Williams will sure up the closer spot, which was a bit of an issue last year. 

Even though New York lost a true superstar in Soto, they really did an excellent job of building a solid team for 2025. 

Overall, the grade of an ‘A’ was well-deserved, and the Yankees are going to be in a position to compete once again for the World Series. 

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