What’s left on Yankees’ offseason to-do list? Three areas to address as spring training looms

It took most of the offseason, but the Cody Bellinger and the New York Yankees finally reunited earlier this week. Recent moves around the league meant both sides were running out of options — the Yankees had fewer alternatives to improve the lineup and Bellinger had fewer potential landing spots — which helped push things along as spring training approaches.

Bellinger received a frontloaded five-year, $162.5 million contract that will pay him $85 million the first two years (before an opt out) and $77.5 million over the final three years. It’s the biggest move in what has been an otherwise quiet offseason for New York. They traded four prospects for lefty Ryan Weathers, brought Trent Grisham back on the qualifying offer, made their first Rule 5 Draft pick in over a decade (Cade Winquest), re-signed some role players (most notably Amed Rosario), and that’s really it.

The Yankees team that reports to spring training in three weeks will look a lot like the team that won 94 games and had the AL’s best run differential last season, but also got trounced by the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS. Running back the same team (plus Weathers) is not necessarily a bad thing, though it does make for a boring and frankly uninspired offseason. 

Re-signing Bellinger will almost certainly go down as the biggest move the Yankees make this offseason, though it shouldn’t be the last. There are still other upgrades that can be made and decisions that have to be made as well. With Bellinger back in the fold, here now are three things GM Brian Cashman & Co. must accomplish in the coming weeks.

1. Figure out what to do with Domínguez

Bellinger’s return means erstwhile top prospect Jasson Domínguez is a player without an obvious role. The Yankees will move forward with Bellinger in left, Grisham in center, and Aaron Judge in right. Giancarlo Stanton is locked in at DH and Ben Rice, who broke out with 26 homers and a 131 OPS+ last year, is locked in at first base. The lineup is full at the moment.

The Yankees have a few options with Domínguez. Perhaps the most obvious one is trade him. It doesn’t make sense to use a talented soon-to-be 23-year-old as a seldom-used bench guy. See which teams are interested, pick the deal that makes the most sense, and pull the trigger. Frankly, that would be best for Domínguez. He needs to play regularly at this point in his career.

Keeping Domínguez is also perfectly reasonable too. Stanton played 77 games last year and has been on the injured list five times in the last four years. He has also had a chronic issue in both elbows since the middle of 2024. It requires regular maintenance and occasional time off. When Stanton goes down, Domínguez can step into the lineup. Nice and easy.

For much of last year the Yankees rotated three players (Bellinger, Domínguez, Grisham) through two spots (left and center fields), and they can do that again. Is it ideal for Domínguez’s development? No, not really. Is it better than trading him just for the sake of making a trade? Yeah, probably. Too many everyday caliber players is a good thing.

I think the answer here is listen to offers for Domínguez. Cashman wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t at least see what’s out there, especially with slugging prospect Spencer Jones knocking on the door in Triple-A. Listen to offers, but if nothing makes sense, don’t force it, and take Domínguez into the season. At-bats will open up. They always do. 

2. Bring in a reliever (or two)

New York’s bullpen ranked 23rd in ERA, 21st in WAR, and 20th in win probability last season. It was an unreliable unit, and three of their top four in relief appearances (Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver, Devin Williams) left as free agents. Their only bullpen moves this offseason are Winquest and re-signing two swingmen (Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough).

Manager Aaron Boone’s bullpen currently looks like this:

One spring training injury and Yarbrough’s in the rotation. Trading for Bednar and Doval at last summer’s deadline allowed the Yankees to avoid swimming in the deepest free agent waters for bullpen help this winter, though there’s a clear need for another high leverage reliever or two. Someone to lessen the reliance on Cruz and Doval in the late innings.

Righty David Robertson and lefty Justin Wilson, two former multi-time Yankees, are the best relievers sitting in free agency. To get a real needle-mover, someone they can count on in the game’s biggest situations, the Yankees may have to venture out into the trade market. Possible targets include righty Griffin Jax (Tampa Bay Rays) and lefty JoJo Romero (St. Louis Cardinals).

Bullpens are fickle. You can run it back with the exact same group of relievers and get completely different results from one year to the next. FanGraphs projections have New York’s bullpen as 12th best in baseball, which isn’t bad, but it can be improved. It is the one part of the roster that, realistically, can still be upgraded in a meaningful way between now and Opening Day. 

3. Add a righty bat (or two)

The Yankees had the third most left-handed plate appearances in baseball last season and that makes sense. Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch rewards lefty hitters, and they’ve built their lineup accordingly. With the same lineup set to return in 2026, the Yankees figure to once again be among the league leaders in lefty plate appearances.

It is possible the Yankees have veered too far to that side of that plate though. Here, according to ZiPS projections, are their best right-handed hitters going into 2026:

1. Aaron Judge: 181 OPS+
2. Giancarlo Stanton: 106 OPS+
3. Anthony Volpe: 87 OPS+
4. Amed Rosario: 84 OPS+
5. José Caballero: 82 OPS+

That is Rosario’s overall projection and he has been much better against lefties over the years (.794 OPS vs. LHP since 2021), but still, that is a thin group of righty bats. It’s the best hitter in the world, a good hitter you can’t count on playing a full season, then a bunch of utility infielder types. Also, Volpe will miss the start of the season as he rehabs from shoulder surgery, so yeah.

There are two obvious places the Yankees can add righty bats: backup catcher and the outfield. Starting catcher Austin Wells and backup J.C. Escarra are both left-handed hitters. Escarra is an excellent pitch-framer and clubhouse vibes guy, but pairing Wells with a righty hitting backup makes so much more sense from a roster construction standpoint. 

Bringing in a righty hitting outfielder would push Domínguez or utility man Oswaldo Cabrera, both of whom are switch-hitters who perform much worse against lefty pitchers, off the roster. A righty hitting fourth outfielder like, say, Austin Hays (.872 OPS vs. LHP since 2023) could platoon with Grisham or even Rice, with Bellinger playing to center/first base as needed.

The Yankees only need to tweak the margins of the roster and it’s much easier to do that than it is to overhaul things. Perhaps the biggest obstacle right now is not the pool of available players, but money. Hal Steinbrenner is not the kind of big market owner who will continue to up payroll and spend. The Yankees have a payroll limit and appear to be up against it:

Either Steinbrenner will approve a significant payroll increase for the first time in three years, or the Yankees are done adding. Or they will trade a player making good money so they can reallocate those dollars elsewhere. There are only so many ways to do that. Trading Bednar ($9 million), Doval ($6.1 million), or Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($10.2 million) just opens another hole on the roster.

Point is though, the Yankees are in a good place with their current roster even if their quiet offseason seems designed specifically to enrage the fan base. Add to the bullpen, correct the lineup imbalance with some righty bench bats, figure out what to do with Domínguez along the way, and call it an offseason. That’s about all that’s left to do with spring training fast approaching.

“You’re always trying to improve your club and improve your team,” Boone said at the Winter Meetings last month. “But also pause and say, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good here.’ And we’ve got a lot of really good players and a lot of really good young core players that emerged on different levels last year that we need to continue to grow in their big league kind of journey.”