The Yankees did not waste time after losing out on Juan Soto.
Shortly after the superstar slugger left them for a record-setting contract with the crosstown Mets, the Yankees pivoted with four significant moves.
Their signing of left-handed ace Max Fried gave the Yankees one of the deepest rotations in baseball, even with Roki Sasaki’s decision not to sign with them.
Their trade for shutdown closer Devin Williams bolstered a bullpen that struggled to finish games for much of last season, allowing postseason sensation Luke Weaver to return to his valuable fireman role.
Their trade for Cody Bellinger permitted Aaron Judge to move back to right field after shifting to center last season to accommodate Soto. The lefty-swinging Bellinger should hit toward the top of the order and provide above-average defense in either center or left, depending on where the Yankees deploy Jasson Domínguez.
And their signing of 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt appears to provide an improvement at first base, even with the 2022 National League MVP coming off of a career-worst season.
No one player will be able to replace the left-handed Soto, whose incredible combination of on-base skills and power proved to be a perfect complement to Judge’s right-handed bat.
But the Yankees have a chance to be more balanced and fundamentally sound in 2025, with fewer starters playing out of position and with consistent production coming from more spots on the roster.
Baseball Prospectus projects the Yankees to have a $302.9 million payroll, accounting for the competitive balance tax, which is tick below last year’s.
Still, there is work to be done.
Here are the Yankees’ biggest remaining holes.
Second or third base
The most glaring need is in the infield, where second baseman Gleyber Torres left in free agency for a one-year, $15 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees can shift Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base, his natural position, or keep him at third, where he played following last year’s midseason arrival and graded well defensively.
That versatility offers the Yankees the flexibility to pursue both second and third basemen and plug Chisholm into whichever position they don’t fill.
Third baseman Alex Bregman is the top remaining free agent at either position, and his steady glove would fit the Yankees’ emphasis on defense. But Bregman’s pull-heavy, right-handed bat is not an ideal fit for Yankee Stadium, while the nine-figure contract he’s expected to command likely prices him out of the Bronx.
More cost-effective fits at second base include Jorge Polanco, who is coming off a career-worst season in which he hit .213 with 16 homers for Seattle; and Brendan Rodgers, who hit .267 with 13 homers for Colorado.
Rodgers, the No. 3 overall pick in 2015, is still only 28, and he won a Gold Glove at second base in 2022. But his range and arm strength both graded in the bottom 25th percentile last season, according to Baseball Savant.
Internal options include 36-year-old DJ LeMahieu, who hit .204 with a career-worst .527 OPS during an injury-plagued 2024 season, as well youngsters Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza.
The most intriguing fit is San Diego Padres infielder Luiz Arráez, whom the Yankees have reportedly discussed trading for.
Arráez is considered a poor defender and baserunner — shortcomings that plagued Torres — but he is a career .323 hitter who has won three consecutive batting titles.
Leadoff hitter
Arráez offers a smooth segue to the Yankees’ next-biggest need, as they are yet to identify a clear replacement for Torres as their leadoff hitter.
Whether the Yankees bat the right-handed Judge second in the order and the lefty-swinging Bellinger third or vice versa might depend on who claims the No. 1 spot.
Arráez — and his career .372 on-base percentage — fits well as a lefty-hitting table-setter for Judge.
Chisholm, who also hits lefty, has the speed to lead off, but his career .311 on-base percentage makes him a less-ideal fit.
Same goes for Anthony Volpe, who bats right-handed and has the traits of a top-of-the-order hitter, but whose .293 on-base percentage last season would need to improve.
Another internal option could be the switch-hitting Domínguez, who boasts a .373 on-base percentage in 353 minor-league games. He is yet to demonstrate that kind of production at the MLB level, however, albeit in a small sample.
Left-handed reliever
The Yankees do not have a left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster. That figures to change before the start of the season.
A reunion with Tim Hill, who is a free agent, makes sense after the sidewinder pitched to a 2.05 ERA over 44 innings with the Yankees last season.
The Yankees signed Hill, who turns 35 next month, in June after the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox released him. Hill was particularly effective during the Yankees’ World Series run, posting a 1.08 ERA across 10 playoff appearances.
Other available lefty relievers in a slow-moving market include Andrew Chafin, who has a 3.42 ERA over 11 MLB seasons, and A.J. Minter, a backend staple of the Atlanta Braves who is coming off of season-ending hip surgery.
Brooks Raley, who was among the Mets’ most dependable relievers in 2023 and got off to a strong start last year, underwent an internal brace procedure on his left elbow in May and is not expected back until the summer.
Backup catcher
Jose Trevino was an All-Star and a Platinum Glove Award winner with the Yankees in 2022, but the veteran catcher became expendable with last season’s breakout of Austin Wells.
Thus, the Yankees traded Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds last month for a high-upside reliever in Fernando Cruz and a light-hitting catcher in Alex Jackson.
The trade further solidified Wells as the Yankees’ primary catcher, but it also left them without a clear backup.
Jackson, a .132 hitter over five MLB seasons, is on the 40-man roster, as is J.C. Escarra, a converted infielder who hit .302 with eight home runs and a .930 OPS in 52 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season. Both are 29 and bat right-handed.
Keep in mind that Ben Rice, who came up as a first baseman last season, is a catcher by trade, but he, like Wells, bats left-handed. If the Yankees are comfortable carrying two lefty-swinging catchers, Rice would also offer depth at first base while giving the Yankees a bat they like off the bench.
Additional note
In a move that doesn’t fill any of the above holes but does improve the organizational depth, the Yankees reached a minor-league contract with former Mets first-round pick Dominic Smith, according to reports.
Smith, 29, is a career .246 hitter with 64 home runs and a .717 OPS over eight MLB seasons, including six with the Mets. He has primarily played first base and left field.
Originally drafted No. 11 overall in 2013, the lefty-swinging Smith finished 13th in National League MVP voting with the Mets during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, during which he hit .316 with 10 homers, 42 RBI and a .993 OPS in 199 plate appearances.
He batted .233 with six homers and a .691 OPS in 93 games with the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds last season.