How can the Yankees salvage their slow offseason?

Billy Mock

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How can the Yankees salvage their slow offseason? image

As the new year has turned over, the New York Yankees have surprisingly done little to none to improve their roster heading into the 2026 season. It’s very uncharacteristic of the Bronx Bombers as they typically are among the headline free agent signings and trades at this point of the offseason. 

Following a loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS last October, there is plenty of pressure on the Yankees to add to their big league team in order to remain contenders in the American League. While the clock is ticking in the Bronx, there is still plenty of offseason left with a number of impact players still available. Here are three moves the Yankees could make before it’s too late.

3 Yankees moves to help New York salvage slow offseason

Re-sign Cody Bellinger

Let’s get the easy one out of the way. The Yankees have seemingly been the favorites to sign Cody Bellinger in free agency for most of the offseason. However, that became unclear after it was reported that Bellinger turned down an offer from the Yankees that exceeded $30 million per year because it didn’t include the amount of years he was looking for. 

Bellinger is the second best outfielder on the open market behind only Kyle Tucker. Losing Bellinger wouldn’t be the end of the world for the Yankees, but it would certainly hurt if they weren’t able to replace his production. Between him, Aaron Judge, and Trent Grisham, the Yankees had arguably the best outfield in baseball last year. 

Although Bellinger’s asking price appears to be higher than GMs are willing to dish out for him, he’s still going to be a lot cheaper than Kyle Tucker and can provide similar production to Tucker at least in the short term while he’s still in his early 30s. It’s also worth noting that Bellinger just had his best season with the Yankees since his MVP winning season in 2019, so New York is a place the Yankees know he can find success.

If the Yankees aren’t willing to reach Bellinger’s asking price which appears to be over $200 million, chances are they aren’t willing to dish out a mega-contract for Kyle Tucker either. Whether an overpay or not, retaining Bellinger ensures their outfield remains one of the best in baseball.

Trade for a starting pitcher

Perhaps the greatest need for the Yankees headed into the 2026 season is starting pitching. With Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt on the injured list for at least the first few months of the season, the starting rotation is a little thin. 

Max Fried slots in just fine as their ace until Gerrit Cole returns, but he is then followed by a number of question marks. Cam Schlittler will be a fun story to follow following his dominant performance in the postseason, but he’s tough to project considering he doesn’t have a full season under his belt yet. Luis Gil will find himself near the top of the rotation as well and while he has found some success at the big league level, he’s still a bit of a wild card as a starter due to his command issues. Following Gil they have Will Warren and Ryan Yarborough who will simply serve as viable innings-eaters at the back of the rotation. 

It would be wiser for the Yankees to acquire a starter via trade rather than via free agency due to what I mentioned prior. The Yankees already have three starting pitchers on high-dollar contracts and signing pitchers to long term deals rarely ever pan out the way it’s intended considering the injury risk that comes with starters. The Yankees also have a solid farm system they can deal from, and they draft and develop well, so parting ways with a top prospect won’t hurt too much in the long run. 

While they swung and missed at trading for Edward Cabrera, a number of starting pitchers remain as trade candidates. Freddy Peralta sticks out here as an enticing trade candidate for the Yankees. It would be a one year commitment for just $8 million before he hits free agency next offseason and they would then have some leverage to either extend him or re-sign him in free agency. Regardless of what the back end of the rotation looks like, a 1-2 of Max Fried and Freddy Peralta would put the Yankees in a much better position as they await the return of both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. 

Sign Bo Bichette

Signing Bo Bichette might be the big shakeup the Yankees need. Between Bellinger and Bichette, the likelihood of them landing both would be very slim and would go against what I’ve already mentioned about them having too much money tied up in a few players. However, Bichette would arguably come with even better value than Bellinger.

Bichette will turn 28 in March, making him younger than most free agents and also plays a premier position. Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last couple of years, you’re aware of the fact that the Yankees have had a shortstop problem really since they parted ways with Didi Gregorius following the 2019 season. They have been in on plenty of big name shortstops since but have failed time and time again at landing one.

Anthony Volpe has flashed a really good glove at shortstop but has been far too inconsistent at the plate and doesn’t necessarily sit in good graces with the Yankees fanbase at the moment. Bo Bichette could be that big name shortstop the Yankees have needed. It would be a trade-off defensively, and Bichette may eventually switch positions in the future, but there’s no question that it would be a huge improvement to the lineup. There would be an added element of satisfaction from this move for Yankees fans as well considering both their rivals the Red Sox and the Blue Jays are in the sweepstakes to land Bichette.

At this point in the offseason, Yankees fans are dying for the front office to make a big move and making a splash like this would assure fans that they are in fact not penny pinching and are going to do what it takes to get this team back to the top of the baseball world.

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