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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 07: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees gestures before game three of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on October 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees‘ season did not go as expected and now the club is being linked to potential major moves in the latest MLB rumors. New York is considering making a big splash via a strong push to land a new superstar pitcher.
It appears that the Los Angeles Dodgers may be in for a fight with the Yankees and other clubs making a push to sign Tarik Skubal. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reported that the Yankees are among the teams considering a potential move for Skubal followed by trading away some of the team’s current pitchers.
“… The usual suspects are believed to be at the front of the line for Skubal: The Dodgers and Mets are the primary bidders, the Tigers are monitoring for a discount, the Yankees are thinking about it (and then trading from their pitching stockpile if they land Skubal), and the Angels, White Sox, and Padres are the sleepers with ownership changes behind the interest,” McDaniel wrote in a November 3, story titled, “Rankings, contract projections: Top 50 2026-27 MLB free agents.”
Here’s what you need to know about the latest Yankees rumors.
MLB Rumors: Potential Yankees Target SP Tarik Skubal Is Projected to Land a Massive $352 Million Contract
Part of the debate for the Yankees is likely Skubal’s projected new contract. Spotrac projects Skubal’s market value is a seven-year, $272 million contract.
McDaniel reports that MLB executives are much more bullish on Skubal’s expected contract. The MLB insider believes Skubal’s new deal will easily top $300 million and could go as high as $400 million.
Skubal is projected by McDaniel to land an eight-year, $352 million contract in MLB free agency. Additionally, Skubal may be pushing to land this massive deal sooner rather than later amid a looming MLB lockout.
“As the playoffs began, I polled 27 industry insiders about Skubal’s contract and got an average projection of eight years, $355 million (44.6 AAV), with 59% of projections landing just above the all-time pitcher guaranteed money record of $325 million (by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, over 12 years) and the big, round number of $400 million,” McDaniel detailed.
“The all-time pitcher-only AAV record is $43.3 million, set by Max Scherzer, is the other mark to beat. Seventy-eight percent of the panel thought Skubal would sign before the very likely Dec. 1 lockout,” McDaniel added.
“That means the smart money is a pretty quick process that ends with a contract guarantee between $300 million and $400 million and beats the Scherzer AAV mark.”
Yankees Rumors: New York Is Expected to Make Moves in MLB Free Agency to Bolster Pitching
The Yankees are still behind teams like the Dodgers and Mets in the Skubal sweepstakes, per McDaniel. Regardless, New York is expected to make some moves to bolster the team’s pitching.
“The Yankees are going to make working on their bullpen their top priority, with hopes of bringing back closer David Bednar and setup reliever Paul Blackburn and perhaps making a run at left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon,” The Athletic’s Jim Bowden noted in a November 3, article titled, “Biggest offseason needs for all 30 MLB teams for the 2026-27 offseason.”
Jonathan Adams is a veteran sports contributor covering the NFL, NBA and golf for Heavy.com. His work has been prominently featured on NFL.com, Yahoo Sports, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated. More about Jonathan Adams