Yankees’ BOLD Predictions For the 2026 Season | Shocking Trades?

Yankees’ BOLD Predictions For the 2026 Season | Shocking Trades?

Hello everyone. This is Fireside Yankees, your one-stop shop for Yankees content. And I’m Ryan Garcia joined by Alex Wilson. Today we’ve got a pretty special episode as we’re giving three bold predictions for this upcoming off season. We’ve got three each. It’s not just three total. We’re going to discuss them, break them down. But before we get into everything, Alex, how you doing today, man? Doing pretty good. I mean, I’m excited to talk about the Yankees for the second day in a row. I know a lot of people love the Ryan and Alex duo, uh, the vintage duo from a long, long time ago, and the dinosaurs are still roaming the earth. Ryan and I were talking Yankees baseball. But I’ll tell you what, I’m excited for this offseason because the Yankees really get to define it. This is uh a situation where it it’s never been more true, Ryan. They need to put a competent product on the field for Aaron Jud. They need they need to be confident this team can win a championship next year. There is no more time to waste. There could be a 2027 season or there might not be due that CBA. They can’t be sitting with their hands underneath their buttocks waiting for things to happen. They need to make it happen. It’s there is no more time. There’s no more time to waste. Uh House Diamond’s got to give crashing the green light. Go build a super team. Go compete with the Dodgers. My butlers are still showing up at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning to get me my eggs ready and my sheets are made and my laundry is folded. That’s just the reality. Um I I think that this is about this is now becoming about legacy, Ryan. is no longer about pride. It’s more about legacy. And Stein better’s legacy at this moment is the guy who wasted Aaron Judge’s prime years. He needs to change that. And the only way to change that is to go to the top of the market and say, “Give me the best players available. Get me those guys. We’ll figure out the we’ll figure out the salaries. We’ll manage things. We have money coming off the books in the future. There is no excuse right now.” And I’m excited to talk about some bold takes that can uh hopefully re- rejuvenate this team and get them to a position where we can feel confident they can compete with the Dodgers if they get to the World Series again. Absolutely. And uh I just lost my breath there almost. I mean, let’s just get straight into these hot takes. Make sure you like, subscribe, turn on the notification bell if you like these videos. And I’m going to get it started with my first one, which is the Yankees trade Jason Dominguez to the Kansas City Royals. So, um I’ve been kind of pounding that drum of the Yankees are going to trade Jason this off season. Uh I think it’s going to happen. That’s just where I think things are going to lie or where the cards are kind of lining up. Um and I think the Royals are the team they trade him to. Uh, the Royals are a team that desperately needs out outfield offense. This past season, their team on base percentage was 309. They slug 397, a 706 OPS. In the outfield, their OPS was 617, so a 70 WRC plus a 283 on base, 333 slug. Jason is a cheap, massive upgrade on the offensive side of the ball for the Royals. And the Royals have some uh free agent or excuse me, they have some rental pitching that the Yankees might be really interested in. Chris Bubick is someone who I think would make a lot of sense. Put up a 2.55 RA. I know he’s left-handed and people are going to say they can’t use another left-handed starter. I kind of don’t care about starter-handedness. And if Bubick isn’t very effective as a starter or isn’t one of their three or four most effective starters in 2024, 2.67 RA, a 32% strikeout rate in 30 innings as a reliever. So Bubic, someone who can move in a starter reliever role, gets a lot of ground balls, gets a good amount of swings and misses. Alex, what would you think about the Yankees trading Jason Dominguez to the Royals? And what would it take for you to be happy with that kind of move? I mean, I’ll play it right into my bold take, and I think that the the Yankees will ultimately hand Spencer Jones the keys to a starting job in the outfield. Um, and I think that that is going to open up the door of making Jason Dominguez expendable. I know a lot of people really do not like this topic and we’ve talked about this before. Dominguez’s defense in left field and yada yada yada, but like people will say, “Well, he’s a naturally a center fielder. Put him in center.” He’s not a good center fielder either. So like, you know, this is a player that has a humongous red flag. This is And look, I’ll sit here and tell you, he could get better. He could improve, but he is currently at the peak of his athleticism. He is what, 22, 23 years old. He is fast. He’s agile. he’s just not like mentally there when it comes to reading angles and making good decisions in the outfield and you know just altogether a solid piece. Um the athleticism isn’t translating to highlight reel grabs, diving catches, his positioning is off, his angles are wrong, his glove work is bad. Like there’s a lot of problems there and they all have to get better simultaneously for us to feel confident that he can be a future starting outfielder for this team. Um, I don’t look, he’s a switch hitter, but he’s horrible against left-handed, uh, rather, yes, left-handed pitching as a righty. He’s a bad hitter. So, I don’t even really label him a switch hitter. I label him more of a platoon left-handed outfielder right now. That’s that’s really what he is. If we want to label Jason Mingz of what he is, he’s a left-handed platoon batter right now. And if you don’t believe me, Ryan asked Brian Kman to his face about the outfield. And Brian Cashman said, “We had two vacancies in the outfield.” Which suggests Jason Dominguez is not considered a starter. Right? They had two vacancies. Now they only have one after getting Trent Gresian back. They’re looking for another another person to start. They don’t view Jason as a starter, which is which is exactly what he said for the most part. So, um I’m not going to sit here and say like he can’t get better. I do think he can, but Spencer Jones is a good defender on day one. He’s a good base runner. He can give you 20 plus home runs per season. He’s a slugger. Yes, the strikeout rate’s concerning. Yes, that is something that we will have to see improve, but we’ve seen other players get better in that regard. If that’s the one thing he has to work on, if that’s the one thing he has to channel all of his growth and development into lessening that striker rate, lessening the whiff rates, I think he can get better marginally in that in that category. If he can get down to a 28 29% strikeout rate, you’re talking about pretty normal level stuff for for elite level sluggers here. So, um, not to mention a great defensive player with great athleticism. So, I think that as a center fielder, Spencer Jones could absolutely win that job long term, especially if Tran Gisham doesn’t take significant steps in the right direction after last year’s metrics. Um, but I think, you know, to to kind of talk about the Royals here, Dominguez being traded to the Royals, like you said, need outfield support. You like Bubich, like there there’s talent there. Like you you solve a problem for them, they solve a problem for us. I don’t see why that’s a bad thing. It really just depends on how they feel about Spencer Jones, but I do think they like him a lot. Otherwise, I think he’d already have been traded. Yeah. And I think when it comes to the Yankees and their organization, their situation right now, I am very confident in saying the Yankees are going to shop at the top of the outfield market and land a top outfielder, um I’m not saying it’s 100% or 90%, but I would be pretty shocked if one of Bellinger or Tucker weren’t on the Yankees next year. Um I mean it’s possible, don’t get me wrong, but given that that’s a likely outcome, the corresponding move after that and both of them are left-handed would be to consider moving Jason Dominguez. Spencer Jones, a little more roster flexibility because he’s a center fielder. Uh he can be in triple A to start the year or he can make the roster on opening day. That’s kind of up in the air, but uh there’s a little more uh flexibility with what you can do with him as a player on your roster. So again, I think that ties into kind of where our minds are at with the outfield, which is that the organization is going to have a pretty big outfield shakeup um outside of that center field left field situation. I mean, Bellinger coming back feels more likely than them signing Tucker. So, if they were to bring back Bellinger and um Gisham, it’d be the same outfield alignment, but I think it’s that it’s that fourth outfielder. The guy who gets the fourth most outfield reps will be different from Jason Mingz. I don’t think it’ll be Jason. He doesn’t fit that roster in that scenario. Again, they f have to find like what a really good right-handed hitting outfielder to make Jason work. And that’s really hard to find on this market. One of the top guys for that would be like Taylor Ward, who was just traded to the Orioles. So, again, just not really seeing where that fit is there. But Alex, as we kind of keep rolling through the hot takes and the predictions here, this is staying on the outfield conversation. Uh, the Yankees, my prediction is the Yankees sign Kyle Tucker, but it’s to a deal that’s under $35 million a year. So, my understanding with the Yankees situation and how they view Kyle Tucker and how the league kind of views Kyle Tucker, Alex, is that he is not an airship carrier. He is not a franchise guy. He is a good player, a great player, a star player, but not a franchise guy. $400 million. don’t think that’s in the cards term anymore. I would even say $300 million might be the higher end of those offers. So, I predict that the Yankees sign him to a 9-year $300 million contract. That’s 30 $33.3 million a year. Way below where I think a lot of people would have had him at entering the offseason, but Fan Graphs projects a $280 million contract over eight years. Um, again, a lot of the verbiage, a lot of the conversations I’ve had with people have been, “Yeah, I don’t know if there’s really a Tucker market out there.” So, my prediction, the Yankees go out and they stomp on that market. They swipe him from free agency and that’s what the Yankees should be doing. Alex, how would you feel if the Yankees signed Kyle Tucker to a 9-year $300 million contract? I mean, 300 divided by 9. Let’s see here. So, you’re talking about a deal that’s worth $33.3 million per season. So, he is currently 28 years old, which means it’ll expire when he’s 37. That is not a bad age for him to for for a long-term expiring contract. Like, he can still be a productive offensive DH at that age. you know, maybe he even transitions to first base. Who knows? Like there’s there is a lot of reason to believe that Kyle Tucker will be effective well into his 30s. And I think that that is I’m comfortable with that contract. $33 million 5 years from now is going to look like an absolute drop in the bucket for these big contracts, guys. Like I this is this is a fine expense. And the reason I say that, well, you’re getting $15 million off the books from DJ LaMahu next year. Um, you’re going to be getting 22 million off the books from Gary from uh John Carlos Stanton after 2028. You’re gonna be getting 36 million off from Garrett Cole long term. Like the Yankees have money opening up on the books, you know, over the next couple years. They can pay Kyle Tucker $33 million per season. It’s about years and guarantees for him. Um, and he’s two years younger than Cody Bellinger. So, you’re getting one of the most consistent offensive players in baseball. And I’ll tell you this right now, if something ever were to happen to Judge Knock on wood, what if he has to miss time? You have another superstar that can carry the load for you. Like that’s that’s what you really need. Like I love Cody Ballinger. He was a great player for us, but he’s volatile. I I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Cody Ballinger is carrying this offense if Judge has to miss time. We saw it last year. It did not happen. You know what I mean? Like we lost Judge for for a couple weeks and the team fell apart and they did not really recover until the last two weeks of the season. So, you know, I kind of feel as though you needed that. you need that insurance policy to judge and Kyle Tucker is the best on the market. He is the guy that you want uh to pick up the slack if things go astray uh due to injury or whatever reason. Um so yeah, I mean I’m I’m totally good with that deal. I think that the Yankees should would sign up to do that or they should sign up to do that immediately if that was the case. He’s only 37 when it expires. I don’t I don’t think that’s something I could I could possibly uh turn down personally. The way I look at with Kyle Tucker is I think his market sucks. I think his market’s terrible and that is a little bit concerning like why is everyone kind of simultaneously out but I think that also has to do with the dollar amount again if Kucker is going to everyone and saying hey I want $400 million and everyone kind of looks at themselves and go looks at each other and looks at themselves and goes I’m not giving that contract you want to know why because the Dodgers aren’t going to pay it if the Dodgers aren’t willing to pay it the market suddenly disappears right last year the Dodgers the last couple years Dodgers dishing out hundreds and hundreds of millions millions and this and that. The Mets got Juan Sodto last year for7 $800 million. Like right now the market’s probably like the Mets aren’t going to probably give him $400 million. They probably aren’t. They like you said yesterday, they have Carson Benj on on the on the cusp. Um I mean they have Jeff McNeel and Tyrone Taylor. They probably need two outfielders realistically, but I think they will. I don’t think they’re going to drop another $400 million on an outfielder personally. They have other needs. They need to bring back Petonzo, Edund Diaz. Like they have other other big expenses. The Dodgers aren’t going to give him 400 million. we’ve already seen reports they’re not going to be the highest bidder. So now Kyle Tucker’s market is depressed, not because if he’s a bad player, because I just don’t think the teams that are the heavy hitters are really going to expend that much on on a player like him. So that actually benefits the Yankees. He may fall right into their price range um what they’re willing to give for a player like this. It may end up benefiting the Yankees to a level that we didn’t really foresee because the other big hitters are just not willing to give that type of money right now. Well, the issue is, and this is where I get worried, is that okay, you drop down to $300 million. everyone’s willing to do that probably or at least some of the big bigger market teams are willing to do that to go then right so that’s that’s kind of where I’m just like with the Yankees look if that market is truly bad and and this is a bull take that’s what bull takes are for because we’re we’re kind of going out there on a limb and saying I’m going out there on a limb saying Kyle Tucker’s market might suck uh and that the lack of teams interested might indicate that he his market might suck and that if that’s the case should jump all over it because if they jump all over that I think they’re going to end up being uh the best team in the American League and potentially the best team in baseball Now to kind of segue out of this because you can kind of see my documented takes on Kyle Tucker uh really anywhere. I have not been shy about my feelings on Kyle Tucker. Alex, what’s your next hot take? What you got for us? My next hot take is that the Yankees will bring in a starting caliber infielder to compete at short and third base. And I think that what Cman said, the bottom half of the order is just too many strikeouts. That’s not going to change for Ryan McMahon. That’s not going to change for Anthony Vulpi. And I don’t even know if it’s going to change for Austin Wells. So, right now, the Yankees need another contact approach uh at the bottom of the order. Someone that can they can depend if things are going guys going through a cold stretch, injuries, whatever. They can balance the table here. Look, I don’t know who this is going to be. You guys know I love Brandon Donovan. I’m not going to go through the whole the whole spiel about him again because you guys know my take. I love this guy. I think he’s he should have been the Yankee for the last couple years. He’s an insurance policy at second base. He can play shorts stop. He can play third base. Like, he can do all you need. and he’s a he’s a a tremendous leader, like a great the Cardinals do not want to trade him because he is their locker room. Like he is one of those type of guys. Um but you put him in a winning environment with this type of coaching staff, with this type of support, we may not have seen the best version of Brandon Donovan and he’s like 28, 27, like I’m taking a shot on that, you know. Um so that would be my preference, but you know there’s there’s other players out there, there’s other guys also being that fact that he’s still in arbitration is good financially for the Yankees. So, I think that’s also a selling point. Um, but my other hot take, my other bold take will will will flow into this one. But Ryan, I’ll let you kind of respond to that first and foremost. So, first I want to say when it comes to the Yankees adding another infielder, I don’t think it’s the worst idea. Number one. Number two, I think it would um give them more protection. I mean, Vulpi is coming back from surgery in his labum and they have underplayed the severity of that surgery time and time again. like it is it initially started out as he’s he’s he’s fine and then it became oh he actually has had a labroom tear uh dating back to before that even that that that play against the Rays on Sunday on that Sunday game. So Alex like that is that is very concerning. Also I think it was a Saturday game not a Sunday game. I apologize. Um there is really no world in my opinion where Vulpi comes back on opening day. He’s going to miss time. Cabierro will start. Is there a role like is it is it something where it makes sense for them to bring in a starter? I think it does or at least like a guy who could start in a pinch. Um again, they will be there will be games to be played. The DH spot will be open at times because guess who’s going to need time to be on the IIL? John Carlos Stanton. Does that mean the Yankees can have games where this secret utility guy either plays uh DH or Judge plays DH? And could Brennon Donovan play right field in Yankee Stadium? Yes. Yes. Anybody could. Anybody. Matt Carpenter played I I I keep referencing it. I know it’s like really like I’m I’m beating a dead horse here, but Matt Carpenter in the year 2022 played right field for the Yankees in 96 innings. So, anybody can do it. Brendon Donovan’s played some outfield. Like, he could play some right field, give Stanton some days off, he could play some third base, he could play some second base, he can play some some short stop in a pinch. He can even play some first base, crazy enough, if you need to catch Rice and put Wells uh out of the lineup for a little bit. Or you want to DH Rice for a game and put Donovan at first. I don’t even know. Maybe Donovan has the ability to pinch in a spot, play some left field. Uh, but I think he plays enough positions where he could get 130 games in. It’s kind of like I think the other guy for this would be like a Cosmo Okamoto, like first base, third base versatility. He doesn’t have that shortstop versatility, but um, you wouldn’t start Donovan at shortstop maybe every single day. So maybe that doesn’t really matter as much. But I do like the idea of like the Yankees bring in a 10th basically a 10th position player cuz Goldmith played a lot. The Yankees had 10 position players get tons of playing time this year. So I definitely could see it. And this might play into my take as well. We have a lot of synergy in our takes. This was not on purpose. We actually I when we were putting this together, we explicitly said that it does not have to work. Like my hot takes do not have to be something that would coexist with Alex’s, but I had Awaldo Cabar getting traded away. Jos Cabiro feels like the better utility guy. Um Aswaldo Cabar’s primarily beneficial against right-handed pitching. I’m not saying they have to push him out of the door, but they got a lot of trade interest in him last year. I believe that was a Brendan Cully report if I’m not mistaken. Asaldo Cabar getting traded away is not far-fetched. I think it would make sense. Maybe you can get a reliever for him. Um and maybe it opens the door for that acquisition of a utility guy. Again, if you’re looking at this roster right now, the bench is Cababiro, Cabrera, um Vivas, and Iscara. That is that is their bench right now, at least projected, I think, on fan graphs. That is not a bench that makes a lot of sense. There’s a right-handed hitter in Cabierro, and then a lot of guys who are better against righties than lefties. So Aswaldo Cabrera just strikes me as maybe he could play some shortstop in a pinch and and that’s his value, but could you do better? Could you look at Cababiro as your primary utility guy? Cuz if we’re going to have like a primary shorts stop while VP is gone and my options are internal, I’m picking Cabiro and I’m not really like I I know this is utility man versus utility man, but Cabierro is uniquely fast and has unique speed abilities. So um that gives him the edge over Cabera for me. Alex, do you think as Waldo Cabrera is on the opening day roster for the 2026 Yankees? I mean, you just don’t need him like at this point. Like, Cababay is under control for a couple more years and and I love Cabaro, great dude. Like, I I wish he was more valuable, but he’s just he’s a lefty platoon like utility man like and and his defense has actually fallen off, which is another concern. like what we saw a couple years back when he had like an insane run in the outfield and he was making all these plays like that’s not the same version of Cabrera that we’ve seen as of late. He’s just a great locker room guy at that cost 1.2 mil. It’s like why not just keep him? But the at at the same breath you could say we got Cababayro um you could bring back like Ahmed Rosario you know but but then you have two righties. You you really want that lefty platoon. So I don’t necessarily know. I think that it’s it’s not unreasonable to think that he could be traded by any means. So looking at Cabra’s value, I just I think I prefer Cabayro to play. If it’s a defensive situation, I probably am going with Cababiro at second, third, or you know, Cabra could play first, shortstop, the outfields, but you’re sacrificing the bat, too. I think Cabo is a better hitter. Um, even though he did have a crazy kind of situation. Like his splits with the Yankees were so good compared to the the Rays. like he had a 84 WRC plus the race at 226 with the Yankees in 40 games had a 134 WRC plus 266 average like in 15 stolen bases. I mean just his stolen base, just his base running alone, you can’t have him on the bench, you know what I mean? If it’s between him and him and Oswaldo, unless like you have Oswaldo playing a specific spot he’s just better at or um he’s against right-handed pitching like and you just want the bat in there, Cababro like is the better player. So, I don’t I think that right now Cabara is expendable, but also he’s like his value is at the lowest it’s ever been coming off a fractured ankle. So, it’s like, you know, maybe maybe maybe he’s the type of player you move at the deadline, you know, someone who might be able to regain a little bit more stock. Um, and then you sell when his stock has recovered a bit. Yeah, with Isaldo Cabrera, I think the one area where you could kind of say, “Hey, this can make sense for the Yankees to keep him, um, is you have him as your platoon outfielder or excuse me, platoon shorts stop. Uh, where he plays shorts stop against righties and Kabiro plays against lefties. Kabiro’s offense against righties is bad. It’s poor. Um, and that does matter to me. Uh, but I’m not sure I’m like in love with that idea. Uh, that’s just my personal preference, but um, you know, we’ll we’ll see. I just don’t know if he’s the best fit for this roster as you alluded to. But Alex, I’ve kind of ran through my three hot takes. It’s time for you to deliver your third and final hot take. So my third and final hottake is certainly a bold one. And I think that it it predicates itself on the Yankees getting Tatsuya Mai um you know the Japanese ace who is not short. He’s 5′ 11 Ryan and he’s uh Dude, I wish I was 5 foot 11. I Me too, man. Me too. I is a big deal. big deal in this world. It is. It is. Yeah. Yeah. It like like you you fall below 5’9 and you’re the the the pool of candidates to date gets hald. It’s crazy. Um that’s just the reality in in today’s day and age. Uh but you know, unless you’re throwing nice fast balls and sliders, then I think the the the height the height variable becomes less important. Um but I has unbelievable stuff, right? He’s got a nasty fast ball, a nasty slider. He just introduced a sinker. like he doesn’t give up home runs. He wants to beat the Dodgers. Steinbrer said they’re always interested in Japanese players. Like all the the stars are aligning for the Yankees to get this player. And if they do, you have a rotation now that includes Garrett Cole, Max Freed, Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlitler, Will Warren, Luis Heel, Emayi, and you have Elmo Rodriguez Cruz on the bend and Clark Schmidt um who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and Ryan Yarro who could spot star for you. So, you have more arms than you could possibly need and that gives you value, right? That gives you opportunity. I think in this instance, my bold take is the Yankees will end up trading one of either Will Warren or Luis Heel because they can use that as a as a critical component of a deal to upgrade a different spot, whether it be outfield, whether it be a an infielder, whether it be I don’t know, anything, a bullpen arm. Like I don’t know if I loves trading starting for bullpen arms unless it’s like a really good deal. But like you know where I’m going with this is just you have now assets you can trade out of a strength and the Yankees you get my eye you have a you have an embarrassment of riches at as at starting rotation and Warren’s valuable. He’s a mid-rotation arm for most for most teams in the MLB. Luis Hill he could be a top flight top tier starter for most teams in the MLB. Um you know assuming his health. So, you know, I I do think that the Yankees have an opportunity to to have some trade resources to reinforce other positions. That way, they can keep costs low. Um, and you know, those two pitchers are are valuable and I think that, you know, they might be will the Yankees might be more willing to part ways with them now uh than before now that they know Cole is on the mend and you know, if they get in my who who’s a big addition to this unit. The way I look at Will Warren and Luis Heel and and I I I say this with kind of an interesting I mean it’s interesting because I think both these guys have cases to be really good starters next year. Like Luis Heel um is a a couple of tweaks away from from getting back to being that you know 35 34 ERA guy strike out over 27% of batters face. You know that’s a number two starter in a lot of rotations and he was a number two starter caliber guy in 2024. erra was good this past year, but everything underneath tells you, hey, this is not a guy you really want to be all that in on. Um, now for Will Warren, same thing. Like I think Will Warren’s very much a capable starter and I think can become a, you know, mid-3 ZRA guy for the Yankees eventually, similar to how we saw Clark Schmidt struggle in 23 and then really take off in 24 and 25. Unfortunately, cut short by injuries in both years. Now, the reason I think that these two guys will have value on the trade market is pitching is becoming more expensive than ever before. The phrase cheap pitching isn’t really a thing anymore. What makes Ryan Yarro such a desirable contract is that it’s a one-year $2.5 million deal for a guy who might be able to take the ball for a start. That’s what makes it like, oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got to sign that deal. The value for guys who can take the ball and start, Alex, is through the roof. Frankie Monttos got a $17 million a year deal with the Mets knowing the risk that comes with the arm and the struggling performances. I know he didn’t pitch well. Uh and I understand that was not the only outcome you could have foreseen there, but it was an outcome the Mets were definitely thinking could happen and it did happen. Now, if you want to look at um some other kind of comparable contracts, Luis Severino got a $20 million a year deal after being a league average starter who just pitched a ton in 2024. Um and he got from the A’s. Granted, might have been a way for them to uh avoid paying uh or avoid dealing with the uh player association, but I don’t think that’s why they signed that deal. I think they thought, hey, he could be a productive starting pitcher for us. Some other guys on the pitching market who got pretty big deals in recent years. Uh you look at someone like a um a Michael Walka got a $54 million contract for three years. Kikuchi, $18 million a year. Three years, same deal. Um Jack Flity got that big contract that we saw uh this past year. Um so, I mean, it’s pitching’s expensive. It’s just expensive. If you can get someone to trade for Will Warren and Luis and get an impact player, I think it’s definitely on the table and something the Yankees should consider, but um I think both of them will have significant trade value because they’re both again like they’re both arms. They’re both arms. They can both start. That is incredibly value valuable on its own right. Um Alex, any final thoughts on these three hot takes on these six hot takes, excuse me. Which of the ones did you pick that you thought was the most realistic in your opinion at this point? Um, I think Spencer Jones making the opening day roster is realistic. We saw we saw just how tremendous he looked in spring training two years ago and that was two years ago. I think he’s gotten a lot better since then. Um, I think that they I don’t the sense the Yankees have that much confidence in Jason Dominguez. I mean, otherwise Brian Cash wouldn’t have literally said to your face that there’s two vacancies in the outfield. So, that alone tells us a lot. Um, I think that there’s going to be a position battle. I think Jones is going to make a strong case. So, I think that that’s a realistic possibility that he does make this opening day roster. I would say that um I mean Jason being traded also is not ruled out. I’m not going to say it’s like realistic or unrealistic. I’m going to say it’s a possibility and I also think trading from their rotation is a possibility if they get a MI. I would not be surprised if somebody got traded. Um I still do think they’re going to bring back Cody Bellinger. I still do think that’s their preference. But I also think the Mets like him a lot. um even if his swing isn’t necessarily like tailor made for it. And you know, Kyle Tucker’s Kyle Tucker man like the Yankees can afford him. They actually do have the money right now, believe it or not. They have 255 million in projected total uh asset re allocations, which gives them 45 mil to 300 million and then an extra 20 mil to get to 320 if that’s where the Yankees end up. So that leaves them with $65 million. And if you’re paying 35 mil to Kyle Tucker, that leaves you with $30 million left over to address. you know, you could go get MI for 25 and then you have 10 million left over to go to get a closer or even trade um you know, for somebody in arbitration that has low contract. So, the Yankees have the money. Um I I don’t think any of these are like egregious by any means. I think a lot of them are predicated on other moves happening first aside from I think Spencer Jones making the active roster uh opening day roster is one of those. I think that’s that’s probably the one I feel most confident about right now. I will say the one I feel the most confident in on my side is I’m going to go on a limb here. I’m gonna go on a limb. Kyle Tucker. I think that’s the most realistic one. I I think that Kyle Tucker I think Kyle Tucker’s falling to a price range where the Yankees will be comfortable paying him, especially if they’re comable comfortable paying Bellinger what, like 8 million, 7 million less per year. Uh so yeah, I don’t know. like it’s it I think there was a price range for the Yankees and and Tucker and and same with Bellinger. Uh to that to that note. Um and on your end, I think the one that well the I’ll give you the one I liked the most and the one I uh the one I think is the most likely. Um I liked the the starting caliber infielder one probably the most. I think that’s the one where it’s like oo that’s the most like this roster is really freaking good. And I’ll say the most realistic is the Warner Heel one because I think Cashman’s going to make like a what like a what what the hell did you just do kind of trade. He does one every year. Uh 22 you had Josh Donaldson go becoming a Yankee with Isaiah Connor for at least ahead of that season. Uh 2023 I guess there wasn’t really one that comes to mind um because he didn’t have a really big deadline at all. Uh and that offseason was Judge and and Rodon. Um if you want to look at 24 Jazz Chisum kind of came out of nowhere and Alex Rodo. Oh my god. Alex Rodo. Yeah, that calendar year was 2023. Um 24 Jazz. Uh I think the AK shooting for Devin Williams was crazy. Um this year’s past trade deadline, there weren’t a lot of there weren’t a lot of like complete head scratchers. I guess Camille Deval came out of nowhere. Uh I never thought the Yankees are going to I didn’t get any like tip off of the Yankees trading for Dval. Um and McMahon was pretty out of out of there, too. I didn’t think the Yankees were getting to aval. So every single year, whether it’s the deadline or the offseason, every single calendar year, there’s something where it’s like, what the hell did you just do? And I think there’s bound to be one. So, Alex, I’m gonna I’m gonna I think your takes are the most realistic. I think if I were to bet on any one of them happening, I would bet from your three pool three take pool versus mine. But let me know what you guys think in the comment section below. Which one did you think was the most realistic? Which one do you want to have happen the most? You can vote in the comment section below. Drop your take and give us your bold predictions for this upcoming off seasonason. We appreciate your continued support. Again, like, subscribe, turn on that notification bell to support this channel, and we’ll see you guys in the next one. Peace out, everybody. [Music] [Applause] Perfect. Perfect.

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