Yankees Mid-Winter Review & Suggestions

Roughly at the mid-point of its annual winter reshuffling, baseball is about to hit the holiday break. After losing Juan Soto to the cross-town New York Mets, Brian Cashman has rebounded by picking up a top of the rotation starter, an all-star closer and a former MVP. At the bottom of this post, you’ll see a side-by-side comparison of the New York Yankees team that played in the World Series, with the projected roster as of today. 

In the meantime, the Yankees still have question marks at 1B, 2B/3B (depending on where Jazz Chisholm plays), OF depth and left-handed relievers. Here’s our thoughts on how they can finish their winter shopping.

FIRST BASE
Bellinger gives the Yankees a veteran option at 1B if they feel better about acquiring a starting caliber outfielder rather than a first basemen. Ben Rice is an interesting late-blooming Yankees prospect who has plus D at both his positions (C/1B). In 178 plate appearances at the MLB level last season, he showed plate discipline and some pop but lacked the consistency to be handed a job this spring.

Reading the tea leaves, it would seem the Yankee would want to keep Bellinger in the outfield where he can play all three positions, and Rice in Triple A to continue to work on his consistency at the plate. That would leave both players in a position to eventually replace a short-term solution at first base like 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt or 38-year-old Carlos Santana.

SRNY Suggestion: Goldschmidt (1 year, $18m, with vesting option for 2026).

SECOND BASE
Third-basemen Nolan Arenado does not have the Yankees on his trade wish list, and Alex Bregman seems like a long-shot due to his status as a former Astro and the term/dollars he is seeking. Plus, we were impressed with Chisholm’s physical abilities at 3B and believe that he will cut down on his mistakes and develop into a solid third basemen with a full spring.

Therefore, we expect the Yankees to look hard at their internal options for 2B led by switch-hitting Oswaldo Cabrera who improved in all facets of his game in 2024. Former top prospect Oswald Peraza, who at one time was ahead of Volpe as the Yankees SS of the future, is still only 24, and has proven to be able to pick it at any infield position. Caleb Durbin would’ve had a shot, but he had to be sacrificed in the deal for closer Devin Williams, which could open the door for 23-year-old Jorbit Vivas whom the Yankees acquired a year ago from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

SRNY Suggestion:  Put together a cost-effective, homegrown platoon of Cabrera and Peraza, and pray that DJ LeMahieu can stay healthy enough to provide depth across the infield.

OUTFIELD DEPTH
Cashman is on record that he wants “The Martian” to earn an outfield job this spring but emphasized that they are not going to give him the job. The Yankees did resign Trent Grisham for 1 year, $5m and could let him play center if Dominquez needs more seasoning. Or the Yankees could pursue a veteran outfielder like old friends Alex Verdugo or Harrison Bader. Having said that, we realize that money is dwindling, and we want to advocate for the Yankees to make one more splash, but not in the outfield.

SRNY Suggestion: Amed Rosario (1 year, $1.5m), the former Mets prospect can play 2B, SS and OF, has a career .273 batting average with some speed.

LEFT-HANDED RELIEVERS
The likely scenario is that the Yankees are going to fill in the bullpen on the edges by trying to pick up this year’s version of Luke Weaver, Jake Cousins, Tim Hill or Tommy Kahnle (the first two are still with the Yankees and the last two are available free agents), with special attention on the need for at least one left-hander in the bullpen.

SRNY Suggestion: Tanner Scott (2 years, $30m)

The bullpen is where the Yankees have traditionally thrown their weight around since the free agency era began in the late 1970’s, always ensuring that the backend of their bullpen was star-studded. In recent years, they have maintained top 10 regular season bullpens on the cheap, but they have failed to dominate at the end of games, specifically in the playoffs, like they did in their glory days.

Scott is a left-hander and has been one of the most dominant relievers in the game the last two season. He’s not perfect, as he does occasionally battle wildness, but he has struck out 278 batters over 212 2/3 innings since 2022. Adding him to Weaver and new closer Devin Williams will give the Yankees the same advantage in the late innings that they had in the late 70’s with Sparky Lyle and Goose Gossage, in the late 90’s with Mariano Rivera, Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson, in the late 2000’s with Rivera, David Robertson, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlin, and the late 2010’s with Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and Zack Britton.

Losing Soto was not the way the Yankees wanted this winter to start, but acquiring Bellinger, Fried and Williams have the Yankee fans hopeful. Adding Goldschmidt, Rosario and Scott would go a long way toward the Yankees defending their American League crown.