Grading the Yankees’ Offseason

Cody Bellinger of the New York Yankees (Getty Images)

The Yankees narrowly lost the AL East to Toronto in the eleventh hour last season, and their near win came despite Clarke Schmidt and Gerrit Cole’s TJ surgeries and an unstable bullpen. The acquisition of David Bednar was successful, he had a 2.19 ERA with 10 saves in 22 games down the stretch. Their other reliever acquisition at the deadline, Camilo Doval, didn’t have such luck as evidenced by his 4.82 ERA in pinstripes. Max Fried was excellent in his debut season in the Bronx, finishing 4th in the AL Cy Young. Carlos Rodón was close behind, finishing 6th, his best performance since his 2022 platform season in San Francisco. Aaron Judge won his 3rd MVP in four years, Cody Bellinger had a solid 5.1 bWAR season, and Ben Rice broke out. New York had the best offense in baseball by wRC+ last season and hit 30 more homers than anyone else. The rotation finished 4th in the MLB in ERA, even with multiple serious injuries. However, the bullpen was bottom 10, Boone has an Anthony Volpe problem, and Cole is trying to make his way back from TJ at 35 years old. Has Brian Cashman and the front office done enough this winter to win the AL East?

Re-signed: Bellinger, Amed Rosario, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham

The decision to issue a qualifying offer to Trent Grisham was criticised by folks around the league, but I’m not seeing the controversy. Grisham was a 3.5 bWAR player, and hit 34 homers. He’s also a premium defender, and the Yankees would have gotten a comp pick if he went somewhere else. Since he did accept, Boone can slate him at the top of the lineup playing center field. Cashman’s biggest success of the winter was re-signing Bellinger, the club’s second best position player following their superstar. Belly has good at bats, has pop, and can play multiple positions. 5-years/$162.5 may be a bit of an overpay, but the Bronx Bombers could not afford to lose Aaron’s main protection in the lineup. On a lesser level, Goldy brings depth to 1st base and DH, while Amed Rosario profiles nicely on the bench as a bat-first utility guy. They’re essentially running it back with the offense, but that’s good enough when you had the best offense production in the league.

Cody Bellinger Profile (Baseball Reference)

Lost to Free Agency: Jonathan Loáisiga, Luke Weaver, RHP Devin Williams

Loáisiga is very talented, but he was never really able to stay healthy and appeared in only 50 games over the last three seasons. Weaver and Williams are big losses for this bullpen, and weren’t really replaced. Bednar is solid in the closer role, but Doval hasn’t been good enough recently to justify a setup role. Tim Hill is your best lefty reliever, and inning eaters like Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough could get major innings in 2026. It’s a bit puzzling why the Bronx didn’t seem interested in bringing Weaver back, or go for a guy like Tyler Rogers or Robert Suarez to set up Bednar. If they’re in contention by the upcoming trade deadline, my crystal ball says they’ll be trading for a leverage reliever or two.

Yankees Bullpen Depth Chart (Fangraphs)

The Weathers Trade: Miami Marlins traded LHP Ryan Weathers to New York Yankees for CF Brendan Jones, OF Dillon Lewis, 1B Dylan Jasso and SS Juan Matheus

With Schmidt’s aforementioned July TJ, the Yankees clearly were going to need an additional starter for 2026. The Yankees explored the free agent market, but ultimately went the trade route and went for youth in Ryan Weathers. The lefty is only 26 and under control for three years. He’s recently gotten in much better shape, and shows promise with a + sweeper. That said, he has yet to throw 100 innings over an MLB season, and will need to prove he can be counted on for a full season. To date, he’s got a 4.93 career ERA, but he’s got a 3.74 mark from 2024-2025. He throws a 97 MPH four seamer, with a nice changeup that has increased in usage recently. FGDC has him projected for 122 innings this season, with a 4.17 ERA. It costs New York a few prospects to get Peter Bendix and the Marlins interested, Dillon Lewis (MIA BA #11) is the headliner. Lewis is the classical toolsy outfielder archetype; the question is whether or not he can make enough contact. His plus defense, power, and speed gives you a guy to dream on, he has legit All Star potential. If he can’t hit his weight, Dillon could be a total bust. Brendan Jones (MIA #14) has wheels and can play center field, but the power is limited and he has a below average arm. If he’s pushed to left field, he’ll have to get on base quite a bit to earn everyday at-bats. Jasso and Matheus are org depth guys who likely won’t have an MLB career. 

Ryan Weathers Yankees Trade (Baseball Trade Values)

How’d they do?

Obviously, bringing back Bellinger is a huge win and the Weathers trade looks solid on paper. A couple of mid-tier prospects for three years of legit MLB starter is a deal worth making, and Weathers has a high ceiling. That said, the Bronx should have improved the bullpen by adding a premium reliever in the free agent market. Cashman also should have competed for Murakami, they really couldn’t match or exceed the White Sox’s 2-year/$34M offer? They can win the AL East with this roster, but they need Rodón and Cole’s elbow recoveries to go well. 
Grade: B-