The New York Yankees season ended a lot earlier than we had hoped. Seems like just yesterday torpedo bats were the talk of the sports world and now we are talking about the offseason. Let’s talk about what the Yankees should try to do and what they will probably do to load up for next year’s run at their 28th World Series title.

The first thing the Yankees should do every offseason is fire Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone. As they already had their post season press conference, we can assume, yet again, that this is not going to happen and we will have to live with sub-par decision makers running the Yankees. This is why the Yankees need to put together a power house team. The players have to be able overcome the terrible leadership both in game and overall. If the team is good enough, the decision makers can’t make a bad decision. 

So, how should they go about making a power house team?  Well, they are off to a good start with their pitching.  A rotation of Fried, Cole, Rodon (once he’s healthy) and Schlittler is going to be good.  Fried has shown what he is capable of in the Bronx.  Rodon added to his pitch repertoire and became the pitcher the Yankees hoped he would be when they signed him.  Cole is coming off of Tommy John but he so he will probably start out slow and get better as the season goes on.  The good news is that the Yankees no longer need him to be their Ace.  Think about a rotation where Cole is your number 3 starter.  That’s a hell of a rotation.  Schlitter burst onto the scene this season and can still improve.  He needs to work on an off-speed pitch to keep batters honest and to use as an out pitch.  He has a nice little nose to toes curveball that he needs more confidence in and I think it would benefit him to work on a changeup.   

As for the fifth starter, they have a bunch of options.  Gil would be the incumbent and he should be better a season removed from surgery.  Warren is still an option.  Or they could have another one of their big arms in the minors break out and fill the role.  They could also use all these arms in a trade to better the line up and then sign a vet to replace them.  Either way the rotation should be a strength of the team as is. 

For the bullpen, well they usually can figure that out.  There will probably be a lot of changes there.  I would think Devon Williams would want to go close for another team rather than be a set up man.  Bednar has solidified himself as the closer.  Tim Hill should be resigned as one of the lefties out there, I mean he did pitch like every game, I am sure the Yankees would want him back.  I can see them letting Weaver go after his up and down season.  Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought him back.  Loaisiga will not have his option picked up but he could return on a cheaper deal.  The rest of the Pen is arbitration eligible so the Yankees can pick and chose who they want.  Duval, Leiter, and Cruz are guys I would definitely expect to see in the pen next season.  Even though it was a struggle this season, the one thing I trust Cashman to do is figure out the bullpen.  Hopefully next year it won’t be so hit and miss.      

Speaking of the rotation, I have seen so many posts on line saying the Yankees should put together a package to trade for Tarik Skubal.  I am not a fan of this idea.  First, let me say that you can never have enough pitching.  Just look at what happened with Cole this season.  And Skubal is arguably the best pitcher in baseball.  So, acquiring him would not be a terrible mistake or anything like that.  And if he was a free agent, I would be calling for the Yankees to sign him.  But that is the problem I have with this idea.  He is not a free agent and needs to be traded for.  The Yankees could definitely put together a package to acquire him.  However, I feel that those assets would be better used improving the offense than the starting pitching.  With said rotation of Fried, Cole, Rodon, Schlittler, and Gil, the rotation is the best part of this team (aside from the right fielder).  All five of them are under contract for the next three seasons.  There is no rush to improve this part of the team.  Plus the reason the Tigers would trade him is his impending free agency which means the Yankees would give up a ton of assets to potentially have him for only one season.  This is akin to the Soto trade which did not work out for the Yankees.  If you are going to give a treasure trove of prospects up for a player, it needs to be for more than one season.     

To me, if they are going to spend the amount of assets it will take to get Skubal, those assets would be much better used to acquire what the team really needs, another All-Star hitter to go along with Aaron Judge. 

If you watched Yankee games this season or just followed coverage of them in the national media and/or on line, you saw the list of All Time Yankees home run leaders that Judge has been climbing.  Non-Yankee fans like to point out that Judge is the only one without a ring.  What they don’t point out is that he’s the only one on the list who didn’t play with someone else on the list.  Ruth played with Gehrig, Gehrig with DiMaggio, DiMaggio with Mantle and Berra.  The Yankees tried to pair Judge with Stanton but it hasn’t worked out.  Stanton is always hurt and he hasn’t been the same quality hitter as a Ruth, or the others since donning the pinstripes.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Stanton.  I also think he will be in the Hall of Fame at some point.  However, as a Yankee, he has basically been a home run or nothing guy who plays 100 games a season.  The Yankees tried again by pairing Judge with Juan Soto.  This worked wonderfully.  However, as I mentioned, it only lasted one season.  This is the biggest need on the team and what they should be looking to trade for (there are not any available on the free agent market) if they are going to unload all their assets.  And I have a guy in mind. 

Now, understand that this is a pipe dream.  It’s never going to happen and I don’t believe the Yankees front office is even smart enough to consider trying for it.  With that said, if I were going to unload all of the Yankees trade assets it would be for…Bobby Witt Jr.  Now, first I am going to point out that I am Anthony Volpe’s biggest fan and that I would be perfectly happy if Tony Fox was the Yankees short stop next season.  However, even I understand that Witt would be a big improvement over Volpe at this point and Witt is the perfect guy to add to this Yankees line up.

Witt is a complete hitter who hits for average (something the Yankees really need) and power.  He also has a ton of speed and is a gold glove shortstop.  They could bat him second and Judge 3^rd, though that would take away Witt’s 30 plus stolen bases.  Or they could bat him leadoff with a lefty between him and Judge.  Witt hit .295/23/88 hitting second for the Royals.  The season before he was the runner up to Judge in the AL MVP voting when he hit .332/32/109.  That is the type of hitter they need.  Someone else the opposing pitcher has to worry about and someone who can consistently get on base ahead of Judge. 

And here’s the thing.  He would be an even better hitter hitting for the Yankees.  For two reasons.  One, he would be hitting in front of Judge.  Ask Juan Soto what a difference that makes.  And second, his home games would be in Yankee Stadium.  I know what you are thinking, he’s a right-handed hitter, how will Yankee Stadium help him?  Well, Kauffman Stadium has a really big outfield whereas Yankee Stadium only has a big left Center field.  Witt hits the ball to all fields, much like Judge does, and can take advantage of right field at Yankee Stadium.  In the last two seasons Witt has hit 25 home runs at home.  If those games were played at Yankee Stadium, he would have hit at least 60 home runs.  That is over twice as many.  And those extra home runs don’t just come to right field.  Kauffman Stadium is really big.  Mind you, most of the non-homeruns were fly balls that were caught so his batting average would have been higher as well.  And this is with guys not named Aaron Judge hitting behind him.  Add to that the fact that instead of the extra road games being played in the other AL Central parks they would now be in the AL East parks, Witt will have even more games played in hitters’ ballparks than before.  Witt is already a top hitter in baseball.  You move him to the Yankees and he should be even better. 

This is such a perfect fit that if I were running the Yankees I would offer the Royals, who were a .500 team yet again, Volpe, who I think would benefit from a change of scenery, and pretty much anything they wanted out of the Yankees minor leagues.  Spencer Jones, Lombard Jr., Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, Ben Hess, Bryce Cunningham, and more if need be.  I would definitely over pay.  Witt is not only established as the perfect guy for the Yankees but he is also only 25 years old and he is already signed for the next 11 seasons.  So as Judge begins to age out, Witt would become the franchise player into the future.  His contract is a bargain right now at $14mil but it jumps to $20 mil in 2027 and over $30mil after that.  KC isn’t going to pay him 30 plus million especially if they are still just a .500 team.  Sure they could hold on to him for the next two seasons but will they get as big of an offer as they will now?  Would the Royals make this trade?  Probably not.  Would the Yankees offer it?  I’d be shocked.  But we can hope, can’t we? 

Back to reality.  The fact is that the Yankees need an All-star caliber hitter who hits for a high average.  They don’t need more low average home run hitters; they have plenty of them.  Speaking of which, I would in no way re-sign Grisham.  He is the exact type of hitter they do not need.  And I really do not trust him to be as good going forward as he was in his contract year.  Maybe if there are other changes to the line up and they bring in a bunch of high average guys and it can be on short years, OK but I don’t see either of those conditions as a possibility.  Just let some other team that needs some pop in their lineup over pay him. 

As I was saying, while you never know who would be available for trade, if you look at it logically, there just aren’t any players that would really help the Yankees that would be available.  All the guys they would target are either young and under team control, which begs the question as to why the other team would trade them, or are old and will have drop offs in production after a season or two.  So why would the Yankees give much up to get them? 

One exception might be with the Houston Astros.  The Astros have gotten old.  Altuve is 35, Correa is 31, Walker is 34.  They missed the playoffs this season.  Could they possibly be looking to reset?  Would they take a bunch of prospects for Jeremy Pena?  Is Pena the hitter he was this season (.304) as he’s coming into his prime or is he the hitter he was before this season (.266)?  That would be a huge question the Yankees would have to answer.  And a huge risk if they were to give up a lot to get him. 

Alec Bohm might be available if the Phillies decide to use him to try to replenish what they lose in free agency with all of their pending free agents.  However, you would think they would want Major League talent back, not a bunch of prospects.  They dangled Bohm last offseason but had very high standards for what they wanted back.  Bohm had a bit of a down season and now only has one year left before free agency.  And the Phillies have a top 3^rd base prospect that should be ready for the Majors some time next season.  Would the Phillies take less for him now.  Word is they will be in the market for a starting pitcher.  Would Luis Gil get it done?  Gil and Caballero?  Caballero could play 3^rd until the kid is ready and then become their utility guy. 

While not the All-Star bat they truly need, Bohm would be a nice addition to the lineup.  He’s a right-handed hitter who hits .280.  That’s a lot better than the lefty .208 hitting third baseman they have now.   He doesn’t have much pop in his bat but the Yankees have plenty of that.  He hits righties and lefties well and he hit better on the road than in Philly.  Adding Bohm would go a long way towards balancing the lineup and deepening it.  And it shouldn’t cost the Yankees much in the way of tradeable prospects.  I like Gil, but he’s their fifth starter.  You can find fifth starters.

I know the Yankees already have a third baseman who makes $16 mil a year but they can either include him in the Bohm deal as the guy who plays third for the Phillies until their prospect is ready or they can move him in another deal or they can hold onto him as a defensive replacement late it games.  What they can’t do is let McMahon being on the roster keep them from improving the line up.  I like McMahon.  He is amazing at third base and will hit you 20 home runs.  I am also a believe in it being OK to have one guy in the line up who is all defense and no bat.  However, the Yankees have that in Wells already and Volpe.  They cannot have three .200 hitters in their lineup and expect to compete with Toronto and the trolly Dodgers.  Bohm would be a nice improvement.                   

So you might be saying, if there are not any hitters they would want to trade the Yankees prospects for, it would make sense to give up a ton for Skubal.  It’s not the worst argument but I would rather hold on to the assets and see what develops as the season moves on.  I would hate for a great hitter to become available and the Yankees not have any assets to get him.  They really need better hitting.      

This brings us to the free agent market.  There are not a lot of good players available on the market but there are two names that stick out.  Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker.  The problem with Bo Bichette is twofold.  While he is the type of hitter the Yankees need, and his name sounds like Bobba Fett, he has been plagued with injury problems lately.  Case in point, he was not on the Blue Jays play-off roster for the first two rounds as he has an injured knee.  As they say, the best ability is availability.  They Yankees sure don’t need a guy who is injury prone.  The second issue is his defense.  He is not a particularly good short stoop.  I can’t imagine his injuries and getting older would help in that department.  He is not someone I would want to sign to a long-term deal.  And it would suck to move on from Volpe just to have Bichette play 38 games. 

As for Kyle Tucker, I have talked myself into them signing him.  As of right now they need another outfielder.  As I said, I would not sign Grisham to a long-term contract and he is sure to be looking for one.  I would also shy away from signing Bellinger to a long-term contract.  I like Bellinger.  He was easily the second or third best player on the Yankees last season (it’s between him and Stanton). But he is getting older and I would not get into a bidding war for him.  I would love for him to come back on a short deal, maybe with options like he signed last offseason, but I think a long-term contract will not age well.    

So they need an outfielder.  They could go young with Spencer Jones.  While Jones would add a lot of left-handed power to the lineup, he does not do well in the whole putting the ball in play category.  And sure, he might improve in this area the way Judge did, but can the Yankees wait for him to develop with Judge entering his 34-year-old season?  They could trade for one but we already discussed what’s seems to be available.  That leaves free agency and the best outfielder available, by far, is Kyle Tucker.  Tucker had a bit of a down season this year because he hit terribly in Wrigley Field.  Coincidently, if they Yankees signed Tucker to replace Bellinger it would be the second consecutive season where Bellinger was replaced by Tucker as it was the Cubs acquiring Tucker that allowed them to trade Bellinger to the Yankees.  Tucker hit just .236 with 7 home runs on the North Side of Chicago while he hit .292 with 15 home runs away from the Friendly Confines.  Obviously, this would bold well for him returning to the hitter he was in Houston where he hit over .280 in his last two season there.  He is a lefty hitter who would have had 8 more home runs playing his home games in Yankee Stadium.  Tucker feels like a very good option to bat behind Judge and take advantage of the Captain’s .457 OBP.  I would rather add a righty to the lineup but there just are no high average hitting right-handed outfielders.

The 29-year-old, who will be 30 by the time the season starts, is a year younger than Bellinger.  He is a right fielder by trade but can easily move to left field with the Martian moving back to his original center field position now that Grisham will be gone.  The Yankees said they see Dominguez as a left fielder but I hope (and doubt) they realize playing him in center would be the best way for them to improve the team.  My guess is they use it as an excuse to keep Bellinger in center, or worse, Grisham.  This would be a mistake. Adding a bat like Tucker would be worth any let down in defense that would come with moving Dominguez back to center.  Adding another bat is the most important thing.    

So those are the moves I would make for the Yankees this offseason.  Here’s what they would look like…

Left Field—Kyle Tucker—I just explained him

Center Field–Jasson Dominguez—I like the Martian and think it’s time for the Yankees to let him play every day.  He is getting better and while he struggles against lefties still (Maybe just bat left-handed all the time?), he had a .331 OBP and stole 23 bases in only 123 games.  If the Yankees don’t think he can play every day, they should trade him to someone who does.  I think that would be a bad idea unless they get a real star player back.  I don’t know, maybe trade him to KC in a Witt Jr. deal?  Just saying.

Right Field—Aaron Judge—Just the best player in baseball.

3^rd Base—Alec Bohm—Already said enough about him

Shortstop—Anthony Volpe—Assuming no Witt trade, I think Volpe will have a much better season next year once he joins the team after having surgery on his torn labrum.  Clearly after his good start the injury tanked his season.  Why the Yankees didn’t think it would is beyond me.  But another year under his belt and two healthy shoulders should allow Tony Fox to get back to the guy he was in April and May where he hit .245.

2^nd Base—Jazz Chisholm Jr.—I like Jazz.  The energy he brings everyday is great.  You can’t knock a 30/30 guy.  Or a big One Piece fan.  He’s not much of a contact guy but that’s fine if he is hitting lower in the order and he’s hitting that 30/30 mark. 

1^st Base—Ben Rice—I love Rice.  I hope he is spending his entire offseason working at first base.  He should be the everyday first baseman next season.  His power plays so well in Yankee stadium and I think he can be a better contact hitter as well, especially against righties.  I also think knowing he is playing every day and what position he will be at will make things easier and more comfortable for him. 

Catcher—Austin Wells—Wells had interesting splits last season. He hit for a much better average against lefties but most of his power came against righties.  You would think he could improve his average against righties.  That would make him a much better hitter.  He was always supposed to be a better hitter than catcher but that has been reversed in his two seasons in the Bronx.  Ideally Wells would be the one low average defense over offense guy in the lineup.  Then they Yankees would really have a very good lineup.  

DH—Giancarlo Stanton—Once Stanton returned to the lineup last season, he was great.  In his 77 games he was on a 50-home run, 139 RBI pace.  And most impressively he hit .273.  I don’t know how many years Stanton has left but when he is healthy, he is still a force to be reckoned with. 

They could do a lot of different things with this lineup.  As you know I am a traditionalist when it comes to lineups.  I figure playing the way that won 27 world championships is better than playing the way that has failed to win a championship but that’s just me. You could do something like

Dominguez

Bohm

Judge

Tucker

Stanton

Rice

Jazz

Volpe

Wells

One thing I believe, which I accounted for in this line up, is that the Yankees need to stop surrounding Judge with lefty hitters no matter who is on the roster. I understand wanting to go righty lefty righty lefty with the lineup but having a lefty bat before and after Judge makes it too easy on other teams. Other teams are more than willing to bring in a lefty to pitch to the guy in front of Judge, walk Judge, then pitch to the lefty behind him. Putting a righty behind him or in front of him will keep teams from taking advantage of the lefty-on-lefty matchup. They should also bat him 3rd so there’s a better chance someone is on base when he bats but I will get into all if this much more in March. 

So, that’s how I would approach the offseason if I were running the Yankees.  The priority should be to find more All-Star caliber hitters and guys who hit for a high average.  Keep the rotation they have and piece together the bullpen.  It’s not actually a lot to do but they really have to improve their lineup if they want to compete with the likes of Toronto and the Trolly Dodgers (not still bitter).                                                     

Now, with all that said, what do I think the Yankees will actually do? Not much. My guess is they basically run it back. As they are so analytically driven, they will claim the playoffs are a crap shoot and they had the best record in the AL and that was without Gerrit Cole and only half a season of Stanton and Schlittler. They will resign Bellinger to play center and figure out the bullpen and that will be that. And it most likely will not be good enough to win the World Series.