Top 5 Yankees Free Agent & Trade Targets (2025-2026)

If there’s one thing that we know about the Yankees, it’s that they never sit on their hands in the offseason. They always try and get at least a little bit better, especially when they make an early exit from the playoffs or they miss the playoffs entirely. Couple years ago, they added Juan Sodto. Last year, it was Cody Bellinger and Max Freed. And this year, there are a lot of intriguing names out there that the Yankees could add. So, we’re going to count down five potential offseason targets. Now, there’s no way they’re getting all five of these guys, so cool your horses. But there is a chance that they could get at least one or two of these guys if they’re extremely aggressive. These are mostly fan suggestions, so I’ll talk through all five of them. Oh, and one more thing. We’re not going to talk about any current Yankees who are free agents. So, Cody Bellinger, Trent Gisham, while it would be great to possibly have some of those guys back. We’re going to look at new players, guys who are not currently on the Yankees, let me know in the comments which of these players you want most on the Yankees in 2026. Number five might sound outrageous, but Paul Skins, we know that Brian Kman is interested. He came out and said he was interested after the trade deadline. He said the Pirates were not moving Paul Skins, but that could change. And the Yankees have made a lot of deals with the Pirates over the years from Klay Holmes to David Bedar. But I don’t think this is going to happen. But if I’m the Yankees and he even is the slightest bit available, which I think honestly he might be, I would be all in for Paul Skins. If you look at why the Yankees lost in the playoffs, yeah, they didn’t hit a lot, but their pitching got rocked by the Blue Jays. Also, you lost a head-to-head matchup with Garrick Crochet of the Red Sox. So, the Red Sox are on the come up. The Blue Jays are obviously on the come up. If the Yankees want to keep pace, they’ve got to be the evil empire again. And Paul Ske might be just the guy. He is having his career wasted in Pittsburgh. And this would be a very A-Rod to the Yankees move, right? Get a young player in the prime of their career. This is a guy who had a 1.97 erra this year, over 200 strikeouts, and he’s just 23 years old. So, he’ll be 24 years old next season. Honestly, the Yankees might not even have enough to get him, but if you include a Will Warren, a Luis Heel, maybe three or four of your top five prospects, maybe you can get it done. It’s unlike Cashman to do that to trade all those prospects, but there’s very few Paul skins that come around and he’s somebody that could change your organization for a while. The luckiest man. Number four, Bo Bishette. Shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays who missed the ALDS in which the Blue Jays topped the Yankees, but this is a good hitter. This is a guy who hit 311 in 2025. He is a contact guy, not much of a fielder in terms of fielding run value. He’s only in the fourth percentile. In terms of base running, he’s only in the 10th percentile, but he’s got a little bit of pop. He had 18 home runs this year. He had 20 home runs a couple of years ago. He’s still relatively young. He’s going to be 28 years old next year. And look, it would be great to steal a good player from your division rival because you weaken that team. This is a guy who was very important to the Blue Jays. Even though he wasn’t part of that ALDS roster that beat the Yankees, he was a big part of the reasons why they won the American League East. And honestly, he always seemed to play well against the Yankees. He hits the ball well to right center field. You can see that he’s got pop to right center field. He hits the ball to all fields. He makes a lot of contact. He had 181 hits this year. This is something the Yankees need more of. They need more guys who make contact, who don’t strike out. And yes, you be taking a hit on defense, but only for a year. After next year, George Lombard Jr. should be ready to take over at shortstop. And you can shift Bett over to either second base to replace Jazz Chisum who would be a free agent or you can shift him over to third base to replace Ryan McMahon if you decide that McMahon doesn’t hit enough. But I think that Bo Bashette makes a lot of sense for this lineup and he gives you that prototypical leadoff hitter, somebody to get on base in front of Aaron Judge, the most famous baseball player of all time. Number three is an interesting option because he used to be a Yankee and that is Michael King. Now, he has a mutual option with the Padres’s for $15 million. I think he can earn more than $15 million. So, if I were his agent, I would advise him to decline his option and become a free agent. Now, if he were to come back to the Yankees, that would mean you would have to move one of your starting pitchers, possibly Luis Heel, who’s at the back end of the rotation, and then Michael King would slot in as the best number five pitcher in baseball. I thought the Yankees were at their best when Michael King was a bridge candidate where he was basically pitching the fifth, sixth, seventh a lot of times when you had starters that would come out early and he picked up a lot of vulture wins that way and I thought the Yankees were just at their peak when he was bridging the gap between the starter and the end of the game. Now, I doubt he would want to do that, but if the Yankees wanted to overpay him, you know, pay him60 or $70 million to pitch out of the bullpen, it could be like a reverse clay home situation. Now, this is one that was suggested by some commenters. And though it sounds crazy initially, the more I think about it, I really like the idea. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but something to consider. Would love to have Michael King back in pinstripes. Number two is somebody that I’m very interested in and I know a lot of Yankees fans are interested in this guy because they’ve seen him play across town. Pete Alonzo of the Mets is a free agent. He opted out of his contract before his uniform had dried off after the final game of the season. However, uh he’s going to be expensive and the Yankees do have some internal options at first base that they could go with. Beginning with Ben Rice, who had 26 home runs this year, played a lot of first base, but was not really particularly good defensively. Alonzo is not great as a first baseman either, but he’s better than Ben Rice. Now, when the Yankees lose Paul Goldmid, they’re going to be losing a right-handed bat who hit lefties very well. That should not be overlooked. The Yankees really struggled against lefties in the playoffs, and I think Alonzo could be additional protection for Aaron Judge. It’ll make it harder to pitch to him. Now, you run the risk of having too many right-handed power bats again with Judge, Stanton, and Alonzo. Who knows how much longer Stanton has left. He refused to go full nuclear Oenheimer in the postseason, but Alonzo could be a nice addition to this lineup. This is one that a lot of fans have suggested. I don’t hate it, but it would mean that you got to find some place for Ben Rice. Now, maybe Ben Rice could shift to the outfield. Maybe Ben Rice can play left field, but that closes off the Martian, right? The Yankees are not in a great roster construction space, and this makes the roster a little bit less flexible, but man, he can hit. If you don’t like it, you’re fired. And number one, this is somebody that a lot of Yankees fans have been interested in for a while since he was tearing it up with the Astros. He had an okay year with the Cubs, but let’s be honest, the Metrics love him. The Yankees love Metrics. And if the Yankees decide not to bring back Cody Bellinger, or they fail to bring back Cody Bellinger, and they decide not to bring back Trent Gisham, who, let’s face it, had kind of an anomaly of a year and then went silent in the playoffs, Kyle Tucker could be their guy. Now, Kyle Tucker will likely cost $4 to $500 million, and he didn’t have amazing stats this year. He had 22 home runs, but he was playing in Wrigley, and Wrigley’s not the easiest park for left-handed hitters. I’d expect his power numbers to go up with the Yankees. He also doesn’t strike out that much. He’s a decent contact hitter. He’s not super great in the outfield. is about league average, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make the great play now and again, and he would fit right in at Yankee Stadium. I mean, this guy would probably hit 30 plus home runs. He would be a nice piece to balance in between Judge and Stanton or Judge and Alonzo or Judge and whoever. So, you could go righty, lefty, righty, and have three really strong batters in a row. I still think you need a leadoff man, but imagine Bette Judge Tucker Stanton or Bette Judge Tucker Alonzo, something along those lines. That would be absolutely absurd. I I just can’t even wrap my mind around that. But Kyle Tucker has a lot of potential to get even better. He’s had some injury problems, but this guy has immense power. He’s a really good player. He doesn’t strike out that much. He gets on base. Might be a great option for the Yanks. Let me know in the comment which of these guys you want and we’ll see you next time. If you enjoyed this video, please drop a like and give us a subscribe. It helps other Yankees fans find the channel. We’re also on all your favorite podcast platforms and social media. Join the community. Have some fun. We’re here after every game. This is Pinstripe Territory.

Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:58 – Paul Skenes
2:31 – Bo Bichette
4:06 – Michael King
5:30 – Pete Alonso
6:58 – Kyle Tucker
8:49 – Outro

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37 comments

  5. Get Josh Naylor at 1st, Ben Rice to catcher, Caballero to Short, Bring back Belli, put the Martian in left, and Spencer Jones as backup. Trade Wells and Volpe for a pack of gum.

  13. they need to move on from Bellinger and grisham I would sign teoscar hernandez on short term deal he performs in the playoffs won't cost much and they Latin player's they bring culture and swag like Soto did.
    you want all white boys I see they need some style judge and and them are to laid back you don't see what Guerrero doing for bluejays smh can't be all white boys this NYC big Latin communities
    and no to Tucker his stats lately been suspect

  14. The American League East Division is the roughest and toughest place to pitch as the teams can truly bat around the pitchers. Trade Volpe and Austin Wells. Shift Ben Rice to the Catcher position.

  15. Trade Dominguez for Kwan (LF), resign Belli (CF), and sign Bo Bichette (SS). Find a platoon righty bat to pair with Ben Rice at 1B. Sure up the bullpen and I think that’s a WS contending team.

  17. Gotta bring Belli back. Dont hate the idea of Alonso at first. But we also need a consistent LF and SS. Not to mention at least one starter. Ownership will never do it, but bringing back Belli and bringing in Tucker and Alonso would be an Evil Empire off season

  19. The Yankees should assign him last year when so to laugh that would have been the perfect signing but they didn't you know why because of the Yankees sucked when it comes to signing the right players they always wanna sign dumpster fire players that nobody wants.

  20. Bo Bichette bat would be major upgrade, but his overall defense could be problematic so maybe like A Rod move him to 3rd base now and start Callbero at SS. So you gain 2 solid contact hitters.
    Yes Skenes would be amazing but I would hate to sell off franchise

  21. Skenes, yes! Bichette, no! He's not a great fielder. No Alonso, he is terrible at first base and can't throw. I like Bellinger more than Tucker. He wasn't even playing the field in the playoffs…another DH, and the Yanks have too many of those already.

  25. Here is my take. No need for starting pitching. We have a huge top four rotation with Gil and Warren as a number five. Frankly, Gil could even go to the pen (see 2009 Phil Hughes).

    As for the hitting, simple (but not simple), roster needs reconstruction based on a few key points (see 1998 for hitting blue print):

    Yankees need
    1. Batters with high on base %
    2. Batters who don’t strike out much
    3. Batters who move runners
    4. Contact hitters
    5. Shift focus from the home run to getting on base.
    6. Situational hitters.

    Yes, Bo and Tucker fit that mold but the cost would be extreme. This is where trade pieces could work well and don’t loose sight of the Oakland A’s. They have a ton of MLB ready hitters that check many of these boxes.

  26. Many will disagree(especially spelling so forgive) – – Judge to first. Reamultto catcher 1-2 years, Ozzie Albies 2nd, Caballero or BIshette SS, Bregman 3rd Base, Belli Center, Rice back up and first base, Station DH, Steve Kwan Left, Kyle Tucker RF and Skenes P. NOW Volpe, Grisham, Goldschmidt, Gil, Warren, William, McMahon cant hit, too many low 200 hitters and strikeouts no patience at plate make pitcher pitch to many dh’s, not enough hitters singles doubles more speed get. Wells, Jazz = gone, NO Alanzo. Coaches O’Neil, Jorge, Cone, The Warrior, Buck, Donnie as manager – hitting coach horrible need someone who can teach not to swing out of shoes and put hip towards pitcher and not front foot in bucket. learn how to BUNT the ball All one needs to do is listen to Old Times day and reaction from all ex-players what does that tell you? Change is needed but quick– BTW get Edwin Diaz for Bullpen – dont like cheerleader Amed Rosario…stay in dugout almost like Rodur-

  28. Cashman has averaged one bad trade and one bad FA contract every year for the past 20 years. It's safe to presume that will continue this offseason. I suspect they'll grossly overpay Bellinger with a contract that will be seriously regrettable in two or three years. I suspect they won't trade out the likes of Volpe and Chisholm, but instead will trade in another Devin Williams-style misevaluation in the bullpen.

  33. I see the direction the Yankee's have taken since 2010 and shake my head. Its not about metrics. it's about chemistry and balance. EVERYONE should hit over 250 and have 20 home runs. Changing players every year is all the do. Bring up the young guys and let them play. Stop pulling your starter until its really necessary. Yankees of the 90's were a great team and didn't change completely every year

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