Like most MLB clubs, the New York Yankees spent November planning and plotting. The Bombers, fresh off a disappointing ALDS exit vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, did, however, conduct one major bit of pre-Thanksgiving business. Center fielder Trent Grisham, who enjoyed a breakout 2025, was extended — and then accepted — the qualifying offer.
While Grisham’s relatively surprising decision to green-light the QO took a $22.5 million bite out of New York’s budget for this offseason, it also, more importantly, solidified the club’s plans for center field in 2026. Even if Grisham can’t replicate his 2025 long-ball prowess, he’s a perfectly capable, high-floor player thanks to his patient eye and sufficient defense.
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So now what? The team’s payroll currently sits around $260 million. Owner Hal Steinbrenner has been vocal about his desire to keep that number under $300 million. That gives GM Brian Cashman about $40 million to work with as he enters the busiest part of the offseason calendar.
Here are five major questions — and some possible answers — about where the Yankees go from here.
1. Were the 2025 Yankees good enough to justify running it back?
All signs point toward the status quo, given the way Cashman, Steinbrenner and manager Aaron Boone have been talking since the season ended. It feels exceedingly unlikely that the Yankees will undergo a major roster shakeup this winter. With Grisham back, the Yankees have only three major departing free agents to worry about: Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. The first domino fell on Monday, when Williams reportedly agreed on a three-year deal with the Mets that guarantees more than $50 million, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
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There’s a strong argument that staying the course is a smart plan, even though the Jays thoroughly clobbered the Yankees in October. The 2025 Yankees were a good club. Toronto won the AL East only because of a tiebreaker; New York’s 96-win tally was tied for tops in the American League. And that was despite the absence of Gerrit Cole, one of the best pitchers on the planet, who missed the entire season. Boone repeatedly referred to last year’s team as the most talented he’d ever coached.
2. What happens with Cody Bellinger?
Bellinger’s first campaign in pinstripes was a runaway success. He produced 5.1 bWAR, second on the Yankees behind only, of course, Aaron Judge. The glazy-eyed lefty took full advantage of his home yard’s right-field short porch, finishing the year with 29 homers. Given his history in Los Angeles and Chicago, none of the Big Apple’s big-market hoopla seemed to rattle Bellinger. He also contributed phenomenal defense in Yankee Stadium’s expansive left-field pasture. For all those reasons and more, Cashman must be supremely interested in a reunion.
But there will certainly be other suitors for Bellinger. Who couldn’t use an experienced, low-strikeout hitter with great outfield defense who just turned 30? Bellinger’s market will be robust and, as a result, might push his final contract number to an unsavory level for Cashman and Co. The Yankees were burned twice recently on long-term pacts that never seemed to end (DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks), and that might motivate them to focus on a shorter-term, higher-average-annual-value deal.
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Bellinger represents the proverbial fork in the Yankees’ offseason road. If they retain his services, the rest of their winter can be focused on building organizational depth and refurbishing the bullpen. But if Bellinger signs elsewhere, the Yanks will have a hole in their offense, tens of millions to play with and a reason to get more creative. And given the financial restrictions swirling around the Bronx, it’s difficult to envision a splurge for both Bellinger and another top-tier free agent.
3. What is the plan to reinforce the bullpen?
At the 2025 trade deadline, Cashman spent most of his time, energy and prospect capital refurbishing a bullpen that had become a concerning Achilles’ heel. In the span of a few days, the Yanks added David Bednar from Pittsburgh, Camilo Doval from San Francisco and Jake Bird from Colorado. Bednar proved to be the jewel of the bunch, establishing himself as the team’s closer. He’ll be back in 2026, but at least one of the relievers he was brought in to support, Williams, won’t be.
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Luke Weaver and Williams both had uneven seasons, with Weaver starting strong before fading and Williams doing the opposite. Even so, both were important contributors to a ‘pen that feels an arm or two light as currently constructed. As of now, Fernando Cruz and Doval will slot in behind Bednar, as will human marionette Tim Hill. It seems like a near certainty that the Yankees will enter spring training with at least one veteran reliever who isn’t currently on the roster. But will that arm be in the Edwin Díaz/Robert Suarez tier? Or is Cashman content with an Emilio Pagan or Kyle Finnegan type?
4. How do the Yankees plan to handle the early-season absences of rotation fixtures?
Right now, New York’s projected Opening Day quintet would be Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, Will Warren and swingman Ryan Yarbrough, who was brought back on a one-year, $2 million deal a few weeks ago.
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Carlos Rodón reemerged as a legitimate frontline arm in 2025, but he won’t be ready for Opening Day after undergoing October surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow. Clarke Schmidt isn’t expected back until late summer; he underwent Tommy John surgery halfway through this past season. Then there’s Gerrit Cole, the team’s 35-year-old ace who missed all of 2025 while rehabbing from March Tommy John surgery. His recovery is on track, but we likely won’t see Cole on a big-league mound until some point in May.
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That leaves the Yankees’ pitching staff somewhat undermanned until their big horses get healthy. The likeliest scenario, according to various people around the game, involves the Yankees patching things together with the aforementioned fivesome in the early going. Thanks to their off-day-laden early-season schedule, New York won’t need a fifth starter until April 11.
Still, there’s room here to get creative if they want to. The trade block is chock-full of interesting arms, such as Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Washington’s MacKenzie Gore, and the Yankees have a few interesting trade chips of their own to make something happen.
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It was a weird season for the broad-shouldered Dominican, the former über-prospect who is still, somehow, only 22. He was a league-average hitter in 2025, but he struggled mightily in the outfield. Grisham’s renaissance robbed Domínguez of playing time, and he started just four times in September before managing one postseason plate appearance (a laser double to the wall!). If the Yankees bring Bellinger back, it would relegate Domínguez to the bench.
There remains ample time for him to figure things out — again, he’s the same age as most of the “Stranger Things” cast — but it’s tough to envision Domínguez becoming a meaningful player if he’s not getting the chance to play. Does that turn him into a trade chip? It seems unlikely that the Yankees would pull the plug now, but if they aren’t going to give him an avenue to fulfill his potential, then what’s the point of keeping him around?