The New York Yankees come into the offseason with their attention set on retaining Cody Bellinger. He was great in his first season in the Bronx and took a lot of pressure off Aaron Judge to be the biggest contributor to the offense.
Across 152 regular-season games, he hit .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs and 98 runs batted in. Now, he sits on the open market with a ton of teams trying to figure out a way to add him to their roster.
On top of looking to retain Bellinger, the Yankees are also looking to bring in another pitcher or two, with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon expected to miss the start of the 2026 season. The same goes for shortstop, with Anthony Volpe expected to also miss a portion of the beginning of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Yankees’ projected Opening Day lineup should excite the fanbase
With their deep pockets, the Yankees are a front-runner to retain Bellinger. However, there is no telling if they will go after someone to take over shortstop.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter believes the club will retain Bellinger and then add Ha-Seong Kim to take over for Volpe as he rehabs from surgery.
“With Anthony Volpe expected to miss the start of the season while he recovers from shoulder surgery, the Yankees could explore an outside addition like Ha-Seong Kim, or they could go with speedy José Caballero as the everyday guy until he returns. A reunion with Cody Bellinger or a serious run at signing Kyle Tucker will be the top priority on the offensive side of things.”
Adding both payers would help the Yanks, but they would still have to figure out their starting rotation going into the new season. They cannot go into the new season putting everything on the likes of Max Fried and Luis Gil.
More MLB news:
- Blue Jays retaining their star could leave this breakout slugger on the bench
- Padres projected to bolster lineup by adding this well-decorated slugger
- Giants projected to add former Gold Glove Award winner over the winter
- Padres projected Opening Day rotation may not be what fans want to see
- Yankees projected to bolster rotation by adding former AL wins leader
