Aaron Judge was still in uniform after the Yankees were bounced by the Blue Jays in the ALDS in October when he was asked if Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham were headed to free agency.
“I hope we can drive them back and see what happens,” the captain said.
Judge didn’t know it at the time, but he more or less came up with a slogan for the Yankees’ upcoming offseason.
Of course, it’s not actually that simple, but with just over two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa for spring training, the Yankees are poised to bring back nearly the same roster that ultimately fell short in the playoffs last fall, with a few notable asterisks.
Bellinger’s five-year, $162.5 million deal that remained in pinstripes last week was essentially the last major piece of the Yankees’ winter puzzle, barring a late surprise.
It followed Grisham accepting the $22.025 million qualifying offer; the club picked up Tim Hill’s option worth $3 million; Ryan Yarbrough, Amed Rosario and Paul Blackburn re-sign to one-year deals worth a combined $7 million; and the only significant outside acquisition, acquiring hard-throwing lefty starter Ryan Weathers in a trade with the Marlins.
The Yankees could still use some reinforcements to shore up the bullpen and a right-handed hitting catcher, as they haven’t done much to acknowledge that they are too left-handed.
Jasson Domínguez, whose role became much less clear with Bellinger back in the ranks, could be used as trade bait to fill one of those needs.
But for a team that won 94 games during the regular season last year and was tied for the closest with the Blue Jays in the American League, the Yankees are doubling down on the idea that they can be the best version of that team, and not the one that endured another summer swoon and then got beat up by those Blue Jays in the ALDS.
“Look, it’s obviously the end of our season [last] The year was, honestly, just as difficult for me [as we’ve had] – because I felt like we were really good, really good and healthy and peaked at the right time and got beat in a series against a team that we obviously struggled against last year in the Blue Jays,” manager Aaron Boone said last month during the winter meetings. “So you want to balance that. Again, you’re always trying to improve your club and your team, but also pause and say, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good here.’ And we have a lot of very good players and a lot of very good young core players who emerged at different levels last year and who we need to continue to grow in their journey in the big league.”
The biggest potential change from 2025 to 2026 is that the Yankees expect to get Gerrit Cole back early in the season after he didn’t pitch a single inning last year due to Tommy John surgery. However, exactly which version the former Cy Young winner will return remains to be seen.
But they’re also counting on getting a full season of Cam Schlittler in their rotation after his dazzling cameo with 14 starts last year. They believe there is more in the tank for Ben Rice, who established himself as a center last season and now faces the challenge of competing against left-handers more often. They were betting that Grisham’s breakout season was real. And they’re hoping their 2025 trade deadline additions — David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Ryan McMahon, José Caballero, Rosario and Jake Bird — can continue to make an impact in the long run rather than just a two-month boost.
Will it pay off, or will trying the same – or at least very similar – thing again and expecting a different result remind them of the definition of insanity? The Yankees are just weeks away from beginning the journey to find out.
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