It’s clear that the baseball season is far from over, while the Yankees have been quite aggressive since the loss Juan Soto According to the Mets, there is still a lot more work to be done in the Bronx.
In an effort to keep you informed of the goings-on in Yankeeland, dear reader, we are providing you with a step-by-step report. Come by every day, especially as a GM Brian Cashman orchestrated another transaction. You don’t even have to click ‘refresh’.
So far, the Yankees have made two big trades: a whopper of a free agent signing and keeping a useful bullpen arm. What else could be brewing?
Here’s what we think of what they did, with updated numbers after each subsequent move…
1B PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT
(Signed to a one-year contract worth $12.5 million, according to multiple reports)
Pete Alonso would have been a sexier move, full of narrative potential, albeit more expensive. Christian Walker probably would have been better too. But the Yankees have solved first base for 2025 with a short-term move for a former MVP that will push another former MVP, Cody Bellingerto the outfield, where he belongs.
That leaves the position wide open for a possible pursuit in the future Vlad Guerrero Jr. when he hits free agency after 2025, or even if Aaron Judge have to move there in a few years.
Goldschmidt’s resume shines: The seven-time All-Star was the 2022 NL MVP and has five other top-six finishes in his career, including second place in 2013 and 2015. The run-preventing Yanks can use his defense – he has won four Gold Gloves – and he believes he can hit a home run or two without being asked to carry too much of the offensive burden.
But there are risks here. Goldschmidt is already 37. He is coming off his worst MLB season, including a .716 OPS, the lowest of his career, and his fewest RBI (65) over a full season. The pessimists will point to two bad years in a row after his MVP and note that his strikeout rate in 2024 (26.5 percent) was one of the worst of his career.
The optimists will tout his .839 OPS against lefties and his strong rebound in the final 60 games of the season – 29 extra-base hits, .498 slugging. He catches the ball, which is essential when pitchers like Fried generate high grounder rates.
Did we mention it’s a one-year contract? You know the old front office saying: “There’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal.” Also true here.
Grade: B+
RHP FERNANDO CRUZ, C ALEX JACKSON
(Acquired from the Reds for C Jose Trevino)
Austin WellsLast year’s emergence made Trevino, an excellent receiver, especially when it comes to pitch framing, expendable. So the Yankees turned him into an intriguing bullpen project and depth. Cruz, a 34-year-old righty who didn’t reach the majors until age 32 because he was a converted position player, has big strikeout numbers, including an MLB-leading 14.72 K/9 last year. Since 2023, he has the fifth-most strikeouts among MLB relievers.
He has a wipeout splitter – batters went just 14-for-121 (.116) against the pitch, while striking out 88 (!) times.
That’s the good thing. Here’s the bad: He gives up too many walks. He has a 4.88 ERA in his first two full seasons.
Still, the raw materials are there, and the Yankees have done well lately in getting the most out of utility weapons that may not be finished products when they arrive. If they can help Cruz get more out of his secondary stuff — a mid-’90s four-seamer and an ’80s cutters — or even convince him to trim his repertoire, there might be some leverage waiting to move to to come forward.
Jackson, who turns 29 on Christmas Day, was the sixth overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft but struggled to establish himself in the majors. In 124 lifetime games with four teams, he has a career average of .132. Maybe he’ll compete to be Wells’ backup in spring camp.
GRADE: B
LHP MAX Roast
(Signed to an eight-year, $218 million free agent contract)
After Soto parted ways, the Yanks stepped up their run prevention, giving Fried the largest guarantee ever given to a left-handed pitcher. Fried has the resume for that kind of deal — since his big league career began in 2017, he has the fifth-lowest ERA (3.07) among pitchers who have thrown at least 800 innings, which is better than Gerrit Kool, Chris Sales, Blake Snell And Corbin Burnesamong others. Only Jacob de Grom, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer And Justin Verlander are better. Nice company.
Fried’s repertoire generates groundballs (his 2024 groundball rate was 58.2 percent, well above the MLB average of 41.9 percent) and he also gets above-average strikeouts. He could be the high-ceiling number two the Yankees need behind Cole in what should be a formidable playoff rotation next October.
The length of the deal could be a concern, at least on the back end. Fried turns 31 in January. Some teams would be commitment-phobes if they had a contract of this length for a pitcher, even if he was as good as Fried. But the Yanks probably didn’t make the deal because they were worried about what he’ll be in his late 30s. If he throws around 180 innings per year at Fried levels at the front end of the contract, it could be a hit.
Grade: B+
RHP DEVIN WILLIAMS
(Acquired in a trade with the Brewers for LHP Nestor Cortes and INF prospect Caleb Durbin)
One more step, more walking prevention. Of Clay Holmes In abandoning the Yankees bullpen for the Mets rotation, the Yanks added an elite relief arm in Williams, the owner of the “Airbender” changeup who will likely take over the closer’s role.
Since 2019, Williams has an ERA of 1.83. Only among pitchers who have thrown more than 200 innings in that period Emmanuel Clase (1.67) scores better. The Airbender is also piling up strikeouts. Placing him atop a bullpen that has flourished in recent years as the Yanks have developed unknown utility weapons into valuable pieces seems like a good strategy. It’s also a short-term commitment – free agency beckons after 2025 unless the parties fall for each other and work out an extension.
GRADE: A
1B/OF CODY BELLINGER
(Acquired in a trade with the Cubs for RHP Cody Poteet)
A lefty slugger at Yankee Stadium is always a plus, and Bellinger is an adept defender at all three outfield positions and first base. With front offices swooning over versatility, Bellinger is a good fit and perhaps he’ll get into homes in the mid-20s or mid-30s with help from his new home’s configuration.
While Bellinger isn’t the same player he was when he was NL MVP with the Dodgers in 2019, that’s not the standard he should be held to these days. And no one should suggest that the Yanks view him as a one-for-one replacement for the incomparable Soto.
If he mirrors what he did the past two seasons in Chicago — an .815 OPS and an average of 22 home runs per year — Bellinger will help the Yanks. And especially when he plays in midfield and moves the club Aaron Judge back to right field.
GRADE: B
RHP JONATHAN LOAISIGA
(Re-signed to a one-year contract with a club option, terms unknown)
Loáisiga appeared in just three games last season and has played in just 20 games combined over the last two years. And he will likely start the season on the IL. But it will be fascinating to see what the Yanks can have when he’s done in late April or early May. In 2021, his best big league season, Loáisiga had a 2.17 ERA and held opponents to a .548 OPS in 57 games.
It’s the kind of low-risk bullpen move that should be applauded. If he returns to near-peak form, he’ll be a shutdown reliever again. If he doesn’t, it’s not like the Yanks stopped adding to their bullpen because they got him. They traded for Williams two days after re-signing Loáisiga.
GRADE: B
BY JUAN SOTO
(Left the Yankees for the Mets and $765 million over 15 years)
There’s no way around it — it’s a blow that the Yanks couldn’t keep Soto, a free agency unicorn who helped them break a 15-year drought of failing to reach the World Series. But they have not been sitting idle either; they reportedly made the second highest bid at $760 million in sixteen years. That’s also the second-highest bid in baseball history. Because of that, and the way they’ve responded since, the Yanks get a passing grade on Soto, though the coming seasons will let us know how both the Yankees and Mets fared in the wake of Soto’s free agency.
GRADE: C+
