If the New York Yankees look familiar to you, they should. With Cody Bellinger agreeing to return on a five-year, $162.5 million deal Wednesday, they are going into next season with much of last year’s crew. The projected starting lineup features seven players who started in the Yankees’ last playoff game of 2025 — and if not for shortstop Anthony Volpe’s shoulder surgery, it would have been eight. Lefty Ryan Weathers is the only newcomer to the starting rotation. Most of the bullpen is the same, too.
It shouldn’t be a surprise. General manager Brian Cashman seemed to signal this path at the Winter Meetings in early December when he said the Yankees already had a “strong team.” Their actions say they liked what they had, too. After all, before securing Bellinger, they brought back Trent Grisham, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough, Amed Rosario and Paul Blackburn.
This shouldn’t be considered a bad thing — however, it’s unusual for the Yankees, who spent the previous two winters making big changes: trading for Juan Soto before the 2024 season and replacing Soto with Bellinger, Max Fried, Devin Williams and Paul Goldschmidt before last year.
Look, it’s hard to look at last season as a success. That’s because it wasn’t. The Yankees should have won the American League East, but instead tied with the Toronto Blue Jays at 94-68. The major culprits were another midseason swoon and a horrid showing in Miami after the trade deadline that ultimately forced Giancarlo Stanton to hold a fiery clubhouse meeting. Then the Yankees got boat raced, 3-1, in the AL Division Series by the Blue Jays, who essentially owned them all year when the teams met.
Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger should again help set the pace for a powerful and productive lineup. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)
But last year’s offense led the majors in runs scored (849) and in wRC+ (119), and much of it is back this year. The Yankees should look forward to growth from Ben Rice, who is coming off a strong rookie season, and the new, powerful version of Trent Grisham — in addition to excellence from Aaron Judge and steadiness from Bellinger.
The infield defense should be improved with Ryan McMahon at third base (for a full season), though Rice may be a work in progress at first base. The Yankees hope José Caballero will be a touch steadier at shortstop than Volpe was for much of last season.
The rotation will be fronted by Fried, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler, and the Yankees are high on Weathers. It should be good enough to hold it down until Carlos Rodón returns sometime around May and Gerrit Cole gets back by June.
The bullpen, as currently constructed, has questions. The Yankees have essentially replaced two arms they expected early last season to be high-leverage stalwarts, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, with a waivers addition (Kaleb Ort) and a Rule 5 draft pick (Cade Winquest). The Yankees have young arms with upside who could slide into the bullpen, but they’re better served allowing them to develop and start in the minors. Their pitching department typically uncovers a diamond in the rough or two, but until it happens, it can’t be banked on.
As of Wednesday night, Las Vegas still liked the Yankees’ chances. They had the second-best odds (+1,000) of winning the World Series behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (+225), according to BetMGM.
They again should be favored, by many, to win what will be a tougher AL East. The Blue Jays added Dylan Cease, Kazuma Okamoto and Tyler Rogers, but they lost Bo Bichette. The Baltimore Orioles are better, adding Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward and Ryan Helsley, and re-signing Zach Eflin, but they’re not more talented overall than the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox added Ranger Suárez, but lost Alex Bregman.
Yankees fans demanding change, however, could look across to Queens and see the Mets retooling their entire roster. They even swooped in and nabbed Yankees trade target Freddy Peralta late Wednesday night. (Though, to be fair, plenty of other teams coveted Peralta, too.)
The start of spring training is about three weeks away. The Yankees could still shake things up. More likely, they’ll go into the 2026 season looking a lot like 2025. From a foundational standpoint, that’s not a bad thing.
