It's a quick turnaround for the Yankees after last night's gutting defeat. The front office will jump right into offseason work. The most immediate focus is on their ace's complicated opt-out decision. After that, they'll make a push to retain a likely Hall of Famer who'll set a new contract record in the next few months.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Aaron Judge, CF: $280MM through 2031
- Gerrit Cole, RHP: $144MM through 2028 (Cole can opt out this winter; Yankees could void the opt-out by exercising $36MM club option for '29)
- Carlos Rodón, LHP: $108MM through 2028
- Giancarlo Stanton, DH: $96MM through 2027 (including buyout of '28 club option)*
- DJ LeMahieu, 3B: $30MM through 2026
- Marcus Stroman, RHP: $18MM through 2025 (deal contains $18MM vesting/player option for '26 if Stroman pitches 140+ innings next season)
* Marlins are covering $30MM of Stanton's contract between 2026-28, so Yankees are on the hook for $66MM
Option Decisions
- RHP Gerrit Cole can opt out of final four years and $144MM; Yankees could void the opt-out by exercising $36MM club option for '29
- Team holds $17MM option on 1B Anthony Rizzo ($6MM buyout)
- Team holds $5MM option on RHP Lou Trivino
- Team holds $2.5MM option on RHP Luke Weaver
Additional Obligations
- Owe $10.5MM to released OF Aaron Hicks
2025 financial commitments (if Cole doesn't hit free agency): $183.5MM
Total future commitments (if Cole doesn't opt out): $662.5MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (projected salaries via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Jon Berti (5.168): $3.8MM
- Tim Mayza (5.129): $4MM
- Nestor Cortes (5.094): $7.7MM
- Jose Trevino (5.063): $3.4MM
- Trent Grisham (5.060): $5.7MM
- JT Brubaker (5.000): $2.275MM
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. (4.075): $6.9MM
- Mark Leiter Jr. (4.031): $2.1MM
- Clarke Schmidt (3.148): $3.5MM
- Scott Effross (2.156): $900K
Non-tender candidates: Berti, Mayza, Grisham, Brubaker
Free Agents
- Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Alex Verdugo, Tim Hill, Jonathan Loáisiga, Phil Bickford, Tanner Tully
There's no bigger story of the offseason than Juan Soto. That's true not only for the Yankees but MLB as a whole. Soto's next contract is almost certainly going to surpass $500MM. There's a reasonable chance the guarantee begins with a 6. He should break the record both for average annual value and overall guarantee (assuming one takes the net present value of the Shohei Ohtani deal rather than the $700MM figure, which does not account for the contract's $680MM of deferrals).
The Yankees are obviously going to try to keep Soto in the Bronx. His first season couldn't have gone much better. Soto had arguably the best full year of his career. He just turned 26 and is theoretically only entering his prime, at least offensively. The defense probably won't age well over the course of a deal that stretches beyond a decade, but it doesn't really matter. Soto's floor at the plate is better than any free agent's in recent memory.
Every high-payroll team will be tied to Soto. There's a chance it comes down to a bidding war between the New York franchises. The Mets are clearly going to be all-in. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stoked the flames last week, saying the franchise's ample payroll space "means that pretty much the entirety of the player universe is potentially accessible." The biggest offseason question may be whether Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is willing to be outbid by Mets owner Steve Cohen on a player who was instrumental in pushing the Yankees to their first pennant in 15 years.
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The No. 1 change I’d like to see Yankees management make is putting names on the back of uniforms.
“Putting names on the back”…I agree with the Yankee’s stance, that the name on the front of the uniform is much more important than the one on the back of the uniform. The iconic Yankees should stick to their longtime traditions, even the one prohibiting many types of facial hair.
Names like Error, Blunder, Bonehead, Cheater, Bum, Overpaid, Bobble, etc.
need a couple more to fill out a lineup card. May be Verdugo and Lollygaggers.
Sonny – I’m guessing you also actually like the Yankee Stadium scoreboards encouraging fans to “make noise”?
It’s a shame the organization has sunk to that level, especially during the World Series.
@ Fever Pitch
I genuinely have respect for many of the Yankees roster, and – for example – they as an organisation showed real awareness after the Boston Marathan bombing by playing Sweet Caroline in tribute.
But John Sterling makes me want to throw things at the laptop. The ridiculously childish “calls” about Judge, Stanton, Soto & Torres are embarrassing. For no other reason I’m delighted the Yankees lost so I don’t have to listen to that painful clown….
Gerrit Cole will opt out leading to Soto leaving
Buttercup – Wouldn’t Cole opting out (and the Yanks not voiding the opt-out) result in a better chance of keeping Soto?
Yes that but don’t have to spell everything out
Cashman needs to sign Soto. If he leaves then Judge will have no protection.
Acoss – Not true, those two bozos who mugged Mookie would “protect” Judge.
Fever,
Oh man, that was embarrassing. Catching the ball, sure whatever, but they actively grabbed his arm, wrestled the ball out of the glove, and the other guy was grabbing Mookie’s throwing arm. They could have hurt him, the bozos were actively assaulting him. Mookie is a cool guy, he didn’t get into any argument or try to slap back. I know I would have had some words and slapped the guys off.
Mookie needs a glass guard with an alarm to prevent anymore daylight robbery from New Yorkers, he should ask CVS for advice.
The Yankees would be a much better all around team, by spreading $500M+ around to 3 players, including 1 pitcher, rather than give it all to one guy(Soto) who’ll very soon be a DH.
Agreed, at this point in time, the Yanks just aren’t a great team.
if they lose soto they’ll overpay for santander and watch him fall off a cliff
That is such a Cashman move! Overpay for middle-teir talent.
Aaron Hicks?
Jacoby Ellsbury?
DJLM?
Marcus Shoman?
Get some new coaches that was some terrible baseball they played all series
Yeah…fundamentals were right out the window.
This is why is hilarious when people talk about how good Boone is, or that the manager has no real impact on the team.
That inning encapsulated Aaron Boone’s tenure as a Yankees manager. The most important offseason move for the Yankees will be declining Boone’s extension….
The AL is currently very bad, so the Yankees have that going for them.
There are some decent teams but they might not get any better than they are now. So, yes, the league looks kind of dreary:
The problem with the Central teams is that they don’t spend any money. Maybe the Twins will with new ownership? The Astros aren’t what they were. The Mariners will never find enough hitting. Red Sox are in transition.
It’s just the Yankees and Orioles. Maybe Texas will rebound, but I doubt it.
When the Rangers get a TV deal, watch out. Plus, once the Texas Dallas Stock Exchange opens with no state income tax, we’ll steal New York’s money.
@drprofsps – Please… Texas already steals New York’s money by running a deficit every year. Never seen a state talk more about money while having their hand out every time something goes wrong.
fred – The biggest spenders are in the NL, so it’s reasonable to believe the NL will have the toughest competition.
5 of the top 7 payrolls are in the NL:
NYM
PHIL
LAD
ATL
CUBS
Please stop with peayroll, the Chiefs and Bucs pay for their players, and they only play 8 home games.. Time for a floor on these so called small market teams.
I will say this for the Yankees… they try to put a championship team on the field every year.. I can only hope that my beloved Redsox are trying to take a page out of the Yankees playbook in which Cash forbid trading their core ( Bernie/ captain/ Jorge/ Andy ) or these last few years will be a total complete waste!!
Olm – Totally agree! The Yankees make the postseason pretty much every year, because winning is important to them.
Wish I could say the same for my team.
If Cole opts out I’d let him walk. 12yr/480M for Soto or let him walk too
It doesn’t matter what the Yankees “pay” Soto. They will make soooo much more by having him on the roster the next ten years. In business, it’s called in an investment, not an expense.
I don’t see how Soto is bringing in an extra $600M in revenue to the New York Yankees. The Yankees are already constantly in the playoffs.
Oh. It works like this. People tune into the YES network to see superstars winning baseball games. The more people that tune into the YES network, the higher the revenue from advertisers on the YES network. The more you can charge for advertising on the YES network, the more profit you make. The more losing you do, the more people turn off the YES, advertisers go away, and profits go down. Soto will bring in more than $700 million in revenue in merchandise sales alone. But the real money is in getting folks to tune into the YES network. That requires stars to watch on the YES network.
Today on ESPN they were saying Soto will get over 700 million, in that case I let him walk!
Then he can join Betts in the outfield. The Dodgers wouldn’t even blink at paying 700.
It’s amazing. When the Dodgers win the World Series, no one in the media says they ‘bought it’ due to their tremendous payroll. However, if the Yankees had won, it would have been attributed to their spending. Double standard maybe? I think so.
Let’s see if LA snags Soto. The Yankees are not the highest spending team anymore, yet they get treated as if they still are. Let’s just call it what it is, Yankee bias.
Slider- If that doesn’t include deferrals, then ESPN are idiots.
Which they already are(ESPN)
They were saying the contract might include deferrals like Ohtani’s!
weren’t the deferrals to pay Ohtani after his stint and career is likely over? Big speculation but doesn’t that kinda keep money out of his pocket while he plays…
slider – I really doubt Soto’s AAV will be more than $50M.
That sounds crazy
@Slider
Soto is a great hitter. Full stop. Mediocre defender, mediocre runner, mediocre with anything other than a bat in his hand. As an A’s fan, we couldn’t afford his cleats, but the Yankees already have a DH in Stanton. Hard pass for me on Soto. Let Cohen regret that contract….
The big money from ’21/’22 isn’t great measure since the money tap isn’t flowing quite the same. And Ohtani (because of deferment) who’s contract is present value of 460 is kinda a good measure. $460M for 10 years for Ohtani. My Guess is 12 years $480M is reasonable. Anything more than that, which is already a lot on the back end, is stupid. Make sure you put an opt out if the contract goes beyond. A team opt out and a player opt out before 32 years old whenever it gets negotiated.
Letting Soto walk over money is stupid. I remember when Dave Winfield got “stupid” money when he got $1 million per season! In ten years, 40 million will be worth 20 million.
Why? Are you paying him? It is an investment, not an expense.
There is more than one way to skin a cat, players like Burns, Fried, Alonzo, Bregman, Snell, Bellinger will be available, but even signing all of them might not give you a better roster than the Dodgers.
And, signing all of them won’t make the team better at fundamental baseball under Aaron Boone.
Soto is walking then. Not gonna get it done.
The Yankees have ALOT of flexibility in thier payroll right now.
I think that they will resign Soto, I think that Cole opts out and the Yankees tack on the extra year.
That represents the 1st half of the heavy lifting part of the offseason.
With regards to “”other aspects””?
Jasson, Rice, and Wells take over LF, 1B/BUC, and Starting C.
(Rice being 1B AND BUC would be huge for roster flexibility, DJ and Berti back him up at 1B)
That means 4 Pre-Arb players, including Volpe, cover 4 starting lineup slots.
Trevino becomes a trade candidate, I can also see the Yankees shopping Cortez as well.
The Bullpen is the 2nd half of the heavy lifting.
ALOT of RP’s are gone as FA’s.
While the Yankees are really good at bringing up RP’s and finding raw RP’s and polishing them up, the Yankees will likely have to spend some money here.
With all due respect to Luke Weaver’s amazing last 1.5 months or so, plus the fact that he is in his walk year, the Yankees have to build up the bullpen with Cash.
All in all, 2nd place.
It could have ended better, We will get ’em next year.
Agreed, if everything goes chalk, but that usually doesn’t happen!
Yankees cannot improve and sign Soto, imho. They won’t spend that much. Moreover, Yankees cannot improve with Boone managing this team.
As sad as it is, this team will not win with Boone and Cashman running it.
We will get the normal circular argument to justify everyone….. “Well, it’s not Boone’s fault, it’s the players fault”, and then when blaming Cashman because he put together the roster, “well, you can’t blame Cashman because there’s no way he could’ve known.”
It’s always an elusive problem with this team.
The Yankees don’t even make the playoffs without Soto. How much improving do they really need to do? If they catch and through the ball, they win the WS this year. Not putting in a pitcher who isn’t a reliever and also hasn’t pitched in 40 days because their elbow is torn up in the tenth inning of a WS game would also help. You already said it. Fire Boone and we improve enough to win it all.
“Fire Boone and we improve enough to win it all.”
Got to admit… that’s a pretty good plan and an easy way to improve the team!
You know that I have wanted to fire Boone the day after he was hired. Carlos Mendoza would have been a good choice. Having a fake Yankee manage the team while Don Mattingly sits on the Blue Jay’s bench is shameful!!
Disagree clip, the Yankees can sign soto and address other needs. There is a fairly substantial amount of money coming off the books not including any further possible or likely reductions from non tenders and trades. It also bears remembering that the yanks were already paying around 30 mill to soto in this year’s payroll, so the cost to resign him is a marginal increase to his share of current payroll. While that’s not a trivial amount there’s more coming off in other areas than the likely spread between current soto pay and resigned soto pay.
To be clear, I don’t think they can both resign soto while also filling every other hole in free agency. Soto and any other fa signings will need to be complemented by trades and in house replacements for a solid overall plan to be executed.
Pete: I don’t disagree with you and perhaps I should’ve been clearer. I meant addressing needs via FA, not through trades.
Trades are a separate concern of mine as Cashman typically doesn’t pay the required premium for good FAs, under the auspices that “the market” isn’t right for them.
I hope Cashman doesn’t just hang on to prospects that will likely fade, instead of filling a real need with this aging core.
Yeah there have been some obnoxious cases where they’ve held prospects without giving them a real shot to win a mlb job and they just feel like they’re rotting on the vine. Poor Oswald peraza! But other cases where holding them looks like it’s starting to pay dividends, schmidt, wells, volpe imo. I tend to think that the yanks should be open to trading spencer jones in particular for a good upgrade in an area of need especially if they sign soto. The strike outs give me concern at his size and judge is basically a unicorn of a top percentile outcome for this profile.
I don’t see both dj and berti being on the roster come opening day. I do think it’s plausible that the yanks give one more shot to dj as a short side platoon partner to Rice if they believe in rice enough to give him a run tho. This seems more likely if soto comes back. Otherwise a pivot to alonso or walker is probably on the table. In general i find it reasonably likely that one of 1b or the 2b/3b mix will be a low cost, in house plan whether that centers on rice or on the two Oswalds. There are also interesting potential trade fits out there in these spots, guys like yandy diaz, Lamonte wade, nate and Brandon Lowe, Brendan donovan to name a few I find interesting.
100% agree that the yanks need to add a minimum of two above average to elite bullpen arms, including at least one lefty.
Signing Soto will tie up too much payroll Yanks need a LOT more help. But not signing him and they are screwed so….rock meets hard place.
Soto to San Francisco for a record contract.
The Yankees aren’t the Brewers. They have no restrictions on payroll. They could sign Soto and have the contract go full Ellsbury and still be fine. The Yankees did more losing than the Dodgers did winning. I would fire Boone for not having this team ready to play, and not worry about the stupid payroll like we are the Mariners or the A’s.