Why this offseason is so important for Yankees
Given the state of this team and core group, it cannot be understated how important the coming months will be to the franchise’s hopes of ending its 16-year championship drought.
Judge, the two-time MVP, turns 34 in April and is still looking for the ultimate prize. He has a lot more superstar level baseball left in him, but age eventually catches up with everyone, and the key players around him aren’t getting any younger either.
Gerrit Cole is 35 and coming off Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of 2025. Giancarlo Stanton turns 36 in November and has already dealt with a plethora of injuries as he has gotten older. Max Fried turns 32 in January, Carlos Rodon turns 33 in December, and Cody Bellinger turns 30 this year, though he may not even be around to see it through.
It’s not time to panic, but there needs to be serious urgency to improve the squad in many different ways this winter.
The Yankees’ glaring weaknesses
The vastly different approaches in the lineup showed up in spades throughout the series, and it makes you wonder if the Yankees should implement this into their philosophy moving forward.
This line-up always has power, but lacks all other qualities. Inadequate contact, plate discipline, situational hitting or basic threats. Not to mention the mess they can create defensively, which will need to be addressed in more ways than one.
They’re the Bronx Bombers for a reason, but that doesn’t mean they can abandon players who find other ways to get on base or work, because that’s what ultimately defeated them. Think of Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes and Alejandro Kirk, among others. These are the kind of guys who play baseball the way it should be played; it’s often not flashy, but it works, especially in the late season.
Yankees offseason priorities
With all that in mind, re-signing Cody Bellinger, who is on the verge of opting out of his current contract, is a must. He is by far the Yankees’ best left-handed bat. He hits for power and contact, but is also great in the outfield. They need more of the qualities Bellinger brings to the table.
Finding a true leadoff hitter who can hit for Judge should be another priority, and the bottom of the lineup needs a lot less swing and misses and wasted at-bats. The bullpen can always use help, although that’s usually easier to fix than other positions.
This franchise will always be flush with the money they can spend, and they need to use the offseason correctly as the potential of them wasting the Judge era becomes more and more real with each passing season.
There’s no excuse not to right this ship and get the Yankees back where they belong: on top of the baseball world.
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