Rebuilding New York Yankees for 2026

Rebuilding New York Yankees for 2026

The New York Yankees made it back to the postseason in 2025, but fell short against the Blue Jays in the divisional round. Now with a massive offseason with free agents abound, and the Yankees not only keep this team together, but make the moves to push this team back to the World Series. Hello, my name is Avery Taylor and welcome to Rebuild October, the series where we rebuild a new team every day across the month of October. So whether you’re looking for your favorite team or just generally curious as to how every team should approach the offseason, then this is the series for you. And with that being said, let’s jump right into the video. As you can see from the war by position, there are some clear trends within this team. Shortstop and catcher continue to be problems while the outfield is still potent even in the first year without Juan Sodto. Unfortunately, the problem positions of this team are relatively weak in this free agent class. So instead, we’ll focus on better rounding out the current roster. The biggest name set to hit free agency is Cody Bellinger, who opted out of the remainder of his contract after a strong season in the Bronx. That 29 homers and an 813 OPS with good defense was a big reason that the Juan Sodto hole wasn’t really felt that much, and it should be imperative that the Yankees bring him back. His swing is built beautifully for Yankee Stadium, and his defensive versatility is great for this outfield. The other huge name is Devin Williams, who the Yankees traded for last off season. The reliever experienced the worst season of his career in New York. A 479 RA is not what the Yankees thought they’re signing up for. And while he is a strong bounceback candidate, the Yankees will not welcome him back. A name they will welcome back is Trent Gisham, who had a surprisingly good year for the Yankees in 2025. A career best 3.5 war and an 811 OPS was certainly not what I was expecting, but he answered the call. He’s another player that does really well to pull the ball in the air into that short porch in Yankee Stadium. Defensively, he has lost his depth and that good defense in center is just not there anymore. So, he’ll probably see more time in left field. If the Yankees can swing the move, I’d like to see him platoon in center versus lefties and be a solid fourth outfield option versus righties. Another big name the team will welcome back in 2026 is Luke Weaver, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent. Weaver wasn’t on the same level of dominance that he was in 2024, but he was still pretty good. A 3.62 62 RA across 64 appearances is nothing to scoff at and he would be a great deaf ad back to this bullpen. The Yankees would also like to welcome back Tim Hill, who the team has a $3 million club option over for the 2026 season. Bill has just been way too good during his time in New York to not welcome back for this price. During his tenure as a Yankee has a sub3year array as just a really high quality death piece for little money. And then for the final offseason decision that the Yankees had to make, it is for a $5 million club option over Jonathan Loiga. While $5 million isn’t that much money, Loa was underwhelming in 2025 with a 4.25 year rate, giving up over 10 hits and two homers per nine innings. I just think they can do better, so they’ll let him walk into free agency. As for the rest of the free agents, the Yankees will see them all hit the market this off season. They’ve had their role, but the Yankees will look to do better. The Yankees have three headliner prospects to keep your eye on for the 2026 roster. The first of which is Carlos Lrange, a right-handed pitching prospect who spent the majority of his 2025 at double A. He’s one of those big-time stuff with limited control type pitchers. He has the rare 70 grade on his fastball, which touches up to 102 miles an hour. He has all the tools and a hot start casino in New York, possibly out of the bullpen. Another name to keep on the radar is Elmer Rodriguez Cruz, who is the model of consistency across his minor league career with a 2.59 RA across 75 career minor league starts. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he has a solid four pitch mix and did much better with the walks in 2025. Another guy who can come up and make an impact if he starts the season hot. And the final name that will impact the major league roster in 2026 is Spencer Jones, who rekindled that form that made him a highly touted prospect. In 2025, Jones had a 933 OPS with 35 homers and 80 RBI’s and has shown the ability to play center field. His strikeouts continue to be a very concerning aspect of his game. But if the rest of his tools continue to be that loud, then he’ll be just fine. And with that in mind, he’ll be the starting center fielder for the Yankees on opening day. That is, if they verse a right-handed pitcher because he’ll make up the other half of the platoon with Gisham. For returning players to the lineup, we have Austin Wells behind the dish, Ben Rice at first, Jazz Chisum at second with Jos Cabierro getting the opportunity to start at shortstop with Ryan McMahon platooning versus righties at third. Aaron Judge will be back in right field and Stanton will be back as the primary DH. JC Escaro will start the season as the backup catcher and as Waldo Cabrera will return as an additional infielder. Platooning versus lefties at third base. For the lone spot remaining on the bench, it’ll go to Stling Marte. Simply put, this team needs a right-handed bat off the bench, and he’s one of the best remaining for this series. His splits were a little reversed last season, but for his career, he has been fairly dead even, so he can provide value just stinging the ball off the bench. The main man missing from this unit is Jason Dominguez. He’s yet to really pop off like we expected when we saw him in the Yankee system, and now is such a loaded outfield, he’s sort of just the odd man out. I wouldn’t trade him quite yet or anything, but starting the season in the minor leagues will be the best option for returning players to the rotation. The Yankees will welcome back Max Freed, Cam Schlitler, Luis Gil, and Will Warren. With Garrick Cole and Carlos Rodon set to miss the first bit of the season, this Yankees team could use a high quality starter, and they’ll turn to Ranger Suarez. Suarez has been incredibly consistent since the beginning of 2021. He’s the perfect combination of a high ground ball rate with a solid strikeout to walk rate. He isn’t a true ace, but to have this guy as a two or three would be incredible for any rotation. They should be welcomed to this rotation as well. For the bullpen, they’ll welcome back David Bedner, Camilo Dval, Fernando Cruz, and Brent Hedrickk. For one of the two remaining bullpen spots, they’ll sign one of the biggest surprises of the entire 2025 season, Drew Pomeran. Pomeran was able to come back after not having pitched a major league innings since 2021 and post a 2.17 RA across 57 appearances. He has a really good strikeout to walk rate and keeps the ball in the yard fairly well. He’ll make another highquality left-handed arm to add to this bullpen. And then for the final bullpin spot, they’ll turn to the international market and grab Kaimatra. Tyra stands at a towering 5’8, but don’t let that fool you. He has an electric fast ball that tops out at 100 miles an hour. He also offers a splitter and sweeper and would be a really fun player to welcome to the States and pinstripes. Tyra is quoted saying, “If you can’t grow vertically, all you can do is grow horizontally. Increase your density.” And that’s a quote I can get behind. The Yankees roster is really close to being a World Series favorite out of the American League and they just need a few tweaks here or there to really make that next push and I believe that we made that in this video. Thank you guys so much for watching and I hope you guys enjoyed and have a wonderful day.

The New York Yankees took a slight step back in 2025, but did well to maintain their relevance in the American League pennant picture. Now with a big offseason in front of them, can they keep the band together, and make the moves to get them back to the world series.

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