Key takeaways
Regarding Kwan:
What I would do is try to bring back Bellinger to play center or try to make a trade with the Guardians for Steven Kwan to play left. Kwan is probably attainable because he’s two years away from free agency and projected to make $8.8 million next season. The Guardians don’t pay anyone other than Jose Raminez, so Kwan probably gets moved. If the Yankees get Kwan, Dominguez or Jones probably goes to Cleveland and the other starts in center. Kwan would be a great Yankees fit. He’d give them a true leadoff hitter to bat in front of Aaron Judge. He’s also won four Gold Gloves in the last four years.
Miller: Would you consider packaging Dominguez or Jones for Kwan? I would. To me, Kwan is another Brett Gardner, maybe even a little better. Just look at Kwan’s stats for the last two years, .292 with 14 homers and 12 steals in 2024, .272 with 11 homers and 21 steals in 2025. The Yankees scored the most runs in the majors last season and could be a better offense next year with a lineup starting with Kwan, Judge and Ben Rice, then Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm and Dominguez or Jones hitting fourth through sixth.
Klapisch: I would try to get Kwan. I have a lot of enthusiasm for Dominguez’s upside. I still think he’s going to have a good career, but I don’t think necessarily it’s going to happen in New York. He probably would be a very good player for the Guardians. The Yankees need contact hitters like Kwan. They need hitters who don’t just put the ball in play, but ones who will frustrate pitchers and drive up their pitch counts … foul ball, foul ball, foul ball. That’s how the Blue Jays ended the Yankees’ season. The Yankees need a lineup that bears some resemblance to Toronto’s. Kwan fits that profile.
Regarding Belli:
Klapisch: I’ve been told by people familiar with Cashman’s thinking that the Yankees are ready to commit to Jones if Bellinger doesn’t come back. Jones strikes out a lot, but that’s not a deal breaker. The Yankees have seen progression in other areas. Obviously he has the power. He has the size. He has the defensive skill. He has the charisma and personality for New York. He checks so many boxes that I strongly suspect he’ll be plan B if Bellinger walks.
Klapisch: I believe Bellinger will sign with another club and so do a lot of people around the around the big leagues. Remember, he’s represented by Scott Boras. We know what that means.
Miller: I’m hearing Bellinger could get $180 million for six years, maybe more than $200 million for seven. If the Yankees make that kind of commitment, there is no spot for Jones or Dominguez. But I don’t think Bellinger is back unless it’s a team-friendly contract in years, and that’s not happening. Boras will make sure of that.
29 comments
A lot of info in this article:
– Also goes on to say that they think the Yankees will bring back Weaver and wont get Diaz or Suarez
– Possible C FAs the Yankees might go for include: Danny Jansen and Christian Vazquez.
But overall the biggest takeaways from Miller and Klapsich is
– The Yankees are high on Spencer Jones
– They don’t think Belli will be back
– Both hope and insinuate that Kwan is a target for the Yankees
The insinuation about Belli not being back absolutely lines up with Cashman’s comments about Jones being firmly in play for the majors this spring. Those aren’t coincidences
I’m very dubious that the Yankees are perfectly happy with playing Jones or Dominguez next year. If they trade for Kwan, there would still be more than enough room in the budget to bring Bellinger back. I think the NJ.com guys have been fed some misinformation.
I’m not sure I’d keep Jones over Dominguez. A strikeout rate like that is hard to fix. He is just more of the same. Dominguez feels more well rounded and he flashed a bit of clutch at the plate already.
Kwan is exactly who they should be all-in on. Definite pass for me on both Diaz and Suarez, and the Belli thoughts make a ton of sense even though I will miss him very much
If the Yankees pass on Tucker/Belli to go with Spencer Jones I’ve lost all hope in this organization. Now you’re just pilling up much more pressure on the kid to come up and be great off the bat. Just setting him up for failure
I fucking hope none of what is written in this article is true, holy shit.
No Belli or Tucker and starting OF is Jasson/Jones/Judge? Why the fuck would they ever be high on that?
Re-sign Weaver, who looks terrible in the last few months, while letting the opposite in Devin walk?
Are these 2 well connected, and it’s safe to assume that these are the off-season plans? Because if so, wow are they really just trying to fuck over Judge.
A lineup without replacements for Belli, Grisham, and one of Wells/Volpe/McMahon is just strictly worse than 2025.
was this article ghost-written by spencer jones’ parents lol
I’d bring back Grish since he won’t take a ton and his savant page was awesome hitting wise
I keep hearing about them trading for Kwan and it makes a bit of sense, all things considered.
I’m also worried that Jasson Dominguez is something of a bust and would be a perfectly acceptable low to mid tier big leaguer on a budget club who just needs bodies, such as Cleveland, but might not be worth the commitment in New York.
I’m also not as high on Spencer Jones- the strike out rate concerns me. I don’t get how that can be an apparent non-issue.
Bellinger is a good fit in New York and I think it’d be fine to sign him to 5-6 years at $30M+ per season in this market, not sure how or why that couldn’t work out, unless by New York going that distance for him, Belli and Boras will just use that as leverage to get an extra $1-2M per season and an extra guaranteed year from literally any other club– like the Mets? Ha.
I still think it’d be possible for Bellinger to stay, especially if he really wants to play in New York- not saying he for sure does- we have no idea, honestly. But if he does, I don’t think he’d bail for an extra $1M per season or something somewhere else and Boras works for him, not the other way around.
In an ideal world, we could get Bellinger to sign for like 5 years/$165M guaranteed w/ $5M of that a buyout on a “modest” $25M option of some kind where he knows he’s on the decline side of his career and it’s still a ton of money to be a “bargain” or a “Fair price” at his age at that point, where it’s really a $20M decision 6 years from today, where the modern equivalent of a Bellinger or a Tucker might be asking for $45M per season with a straight face.
And honestly, if Kwan looks like a good fit here, I’d love to see us sign him to like 7 years/$175M after 2026- again, by modern standards that’d be a modest middle ground AAV between the players’ aspirations and teams trying to keep budgets sane.
Man as a fan of Kwan since his rookie season, I’ve been hoping the yanks could get him to bat lead off. This would be a great move for them.
Hope this is a talking up Jones strategy to flip him in a trade like they did with Durbin. Sign Tucker, flip Jones to fill another hole.
Kwan and Suarez would be a horrible offseason and the yankees would finish in 3rd or 4th place if those are their major moves. I’m a Kwan fan but as a 3rd or 4th move.
If they really don’t go after Belli or Tucker then they’re either completely out of touch with the game or they think Jones will be better than Judge.
We will start coaching Kwan to follow the Yankee way – complete with metrics that support it – while ignoring the kind of hitter he is. He will be coached to pull the ball in the air, focusing every swing on doing damage, max exit velocity.
For the first year, he will be ok but not great – because he’s being coached away from his strengths, and not to be the best version of himself that we want and desperately need. In the off-season, pundits will wonder if he can’t handle New York. By 2027, he will be a shell of the player we dealt for, just another 240 / 12-15 HR hitter while the front office wonders why, never considering for a moment that they are the problem.
Kwan had a .330 OBP last year, and there’s nothing in his statcast to suggest he underperformed. He was better in 2024, when he hit the ball harder and walked more, but there’s a lot of downside here.
I don’t think he makes a lot of sense as a leadoff hitter, with his so-so on base skills. He steals a few bases, but that doesn’t help much with Judge batting behind him.
I think a lot of people in Yankeeland- both fans and writers- are being weird about copying the Blue Jays. They’re a good team, but they’re not the only good team, and you don’t have to imitate them to win.
How about a new GM and manger.
Sounds like a plan to be a lot worse next season
The idea that losing Grisham and Bellinger and only replacing them with Steven Kwan would make the Yankees a better offense is downright laughable.
The only way the Yankees don’t take a step-back on offense next year is if they sign Kyle Tucker. No other combination of outfielders will be able to replicate what they got from Trent and Belli this year.
This piece screams of the Yankees negotiating through the media to not seem like they are desperate for Bellinger or other pieces.
I like Kwan well enough and wouldn’t mind him, but he had an OPS+ below 100 last season and an OBP of .330. He isn’t THE answer to anything. If they got him and another guy as well, okay, but if you’re getting rid of Bellinger/Grisham and only replacing them with Kwan, it’s a downgrade.
I fancasted a huge deal for Kwan and JoRam going into last year. Give up everything they want from the system plus Gil (and Schlittler at the time).
Guards wouldn’t move JoRam, but think an argument could have made that that deal makes sense for both teams. Yankees to fill 3B and LF (two huge holes). Guards rebuild would have been well underway.
If Yankees could get Kwan this year, I’ll take it gladly.
Cleveland would be silly to trade Kwan, but I also get it if they just need some bop and power in the lineup. But is Jasson that guy for them?
Klapsich and Miller are jerks. The bigger jerk you are does get clicks and gets you noticed. The problem is the Yankees themselves. You either go after a championship and do what needs to be done to achieve it, or you don’t and just try to stay good enough to compete and try to pull the wool over the fans eyes. Sadly, with Hal in charge, I think Hal will be investing in wool. I hope not, but you need to do what the Dodgers are doing. The spent the most, and almost (should have lost the WS) but didn’t. The point being is they went all in to try to win. All in to try to win is what the Yankees need to do. I am not confident Hal will.
I still don’t like scenarios trading Dominguez, rather keep him and trade Jones. Dominguez has a full healthy season in the majors and will have a full offseason to work on his game. I still think the breakout talent is there and moving him would be a mistake. Kwan barely had a .700 OPS two of the last three seasons, what are we doing here? Watch them trade Jones or Dominguez for him and Kwan turns into another Verdugo. [Verdugo 2023, year that we traded for him, gold glove finalist and better offensive stats than Kwan](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=verdual01&t=b&year=2023)
I like how Klapisch shrugs off that Jones Ks a lot. ‘A lot’? Jones in the majors in 2026 is a legitimate candidate to strike out 300 times.
I’d rather sign Tucker even if it means Jones in CF than resign Belli.
Yes, the Yankee should move heaven and earth to get Steven Kwan, a player who usually logs a wRC+ of 95 – 100. And bring back Verdugo while we’re at it, why not! I’m sure Anthony Rizzo would come back if we asked nicely. He can lead the league in HBP.
What other league average players can the Yankees trade their best prospects for? There must be a long list of teams waiting to foist their average and below average players off on the bargain basement Yankees. Next season there could be an entire team of Volpes to drag Judge down!
If Bellinger doesn’t come back then the Yankees clock in at about 40 WAR as a team next year, good enough for 85 wins and on the bubble for a WC spot. There’d be a good possibility of missing the playoffs entirely. That would effectively be the end of the Cole-Judge-Stanton era.
Kwan doesn’t walk and he also doesn’t hit Arraez’s crazy hit tool. Yeah he puts the ball in play, but they tend to be weak outs. He is more a 7-9 hitter than a lead-off guy. Also, comparing him to Gardner neglects that Gardner added power to make himself more useful as he aged and lost speed. Gardner was 5’10” 195lbs. Kwan is 5’8″ 165lbs and is not going to be able to do that
I like Kwan
This article reeks of bullshit leaked by Cashman. No fucking way is Jones their plan B if they don’t re-sign Bellinger. That doesn’t even make a tiny bit of sense. Take a kid that’s struggling with Ks in AAA and put him in one of the worst pressure cookers in sports?
This has posturing for trading Jones all throughout it.