What’s next for Yankees after Cody Bellinger return? Latest on Jasson Dominguez, Spencer Jones
The Yankees’ offseason began with a big overpay to keep center fielder Trent Grisham, some roster tinkering and a desire to bring free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger back at their price.
Bellinger was their No. 1 offseason priority … and apparently their only big winter quest.
The Yankees were never all in. They made two offers in early January and then pretty much stuck to them while Bellinger’s agent Scott Boras continued demanding $100 million more over two more seasons.
While most of the Yankees’ AL East competition was making big moves to improve, the reigning division and league champion Blue Jays included, general manager Brian Cashman made it clear that he was willing to lose Bellinger. If another club did to them what the Mets did last winter to get Juan Soto to leave the Bronx for Queens, they felt like could live with Jasson Dominguez starting in left field.
With spring training less than three weeks away, the Yankees’ sleepy winter finally had an awakening Wednesday with Bellinger re-signing for five years and $162.5 million with two opt outs and a full no-trade clause.
Mission accomplished: The Yankees re-signed Bellinger at a price that fit owner Hal Steinbrenner’s budget and comfort zone. It took almost all winter, but when no one else came close to meeting Bellinger’s demands for $266 million over seven years, he eventually settled for returning to a place that was a great fit for him and the Yankees.
The Yanks replaced Soto last winter by trading for Bellinger and wound up leading the league in runs, homers and OPS for the second year in a row. With Bellinger and Grisham back for 2026, they now have same lineup pieces that were in place following their summer trades for Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero and Amed Rosario.
What’s next for the Yankees?
Before spring training?
Before Opening Day?
Probably nothing significant … unless they pull a surprise and deal Dominguez or center field prospect Spencer Jones. They perhaps could bring in a couple high-leverage bullpen arms, or maybe one of the young outfielders could be packaged with a young starting pitcher (Will Warren) for a better rotation piece such as Marlins No. 1 starter Sandy Alcantara.
What’s more likely, however, is that the Yankees keep Dominguez as their fourth outfielder, which isn’t ideal. He’s coming off a pretty decent rookie year hitting-wise. He needs to play.
The Yankees’ projected outfield is set with Bellinger in left, Grisham back in center and Aaron Judge in right. That leaves manager Aaron Boone looking for ways to get semi-regular at-bats for Dominguez unless someone gets hurt. The Yankees are hoping they get a full year out of primary designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, but that would be a first since 2017.
If Jones isn’t moved, he’ll go back to Triple-A even though he raked for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the second half of 2025. The Yankees think he’s big-league ready even though his strikeout rate always has been alarming. With Bellinger back, the 6-foot-7, left-handed hitter slugger now likely needs two injuries to get a first shot with them this coming season.
At this point, Dominguez and Jones are insurance policies, but one of them could be a starter in 2027 if Grisham leaves as a free agent.
Because the Yankees’ focus is on winning in 2026, they may consider moving Jones for high-leverage bullpen arms. They’ve added none this winter while losing three to free agency — Devin Williams (Mets), Luke Weaver (Mets) and Mark Leiter (Athletics).
Before Bellinger began negotiating seriously with anyone, the Yankees watched almost all of the top free agent relievers sign elsewhere. On the cheap, they re-signed two middle reliever free agents, right-hander Paul Blackburn and lefty Ryan Yarbrough.
By the time things started cooking with Bellinger after the holidays, it was clear that the Yankees’ plan was for a re-sign or to basically stand pat.
The Yankees still think that they have a championship-caliber roster with the same hitters as 2025 and a strong rotation that figures to get ace Gerrit Cole back from Tommy John surgery in May or June. They also are hopeful that their bullpen will be improved because they believe they’ll get more this year than they did in the final two months of 2025 from summer trade-acquisitions Camilo Doval and Jake Bird.
Bottom line, unless Cashman does something very unexpected, the Yankees probably won’t do anything else substantial before spring training begins … or the start of the regular season, March 25 in San Francisco.
