ESPN | Kiley McDaniel: Three of this offseason’s most coveted free agent acquisitions are expected to come from Japan’s NPB, with the Yankees linked to all three. After recent pitching success stories including Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Shota Imanaga, and Kodai Senga, the most touted option of the bunch is starter Tatsuya Imai. With the 27-year-old recently spurning the Dodgers and expressing his interest in signing elsewhere, there is expected to be a feeding frenzy for his services. McDaniel projects him to garner $157 million over six years (including his posting fee) and lists the Mets and Giants as top contenders alongside the Yankees.

Imai is joined by two corner infielders among Japan’s top players seeking to move to MLB this year. Munetaka Murakami is a left-handed third baseman who set the NPB’s single-season home run record in 2022 with 56. He’s declined a bit since then and, while his exit velocity has remained elite, he’s struggled with strikeouts. Still just 25, Murakami also projects as a first baseman in the MLB due to his defensive limitations. The Yankees are linked to him less due to a positional fit and more due to their history of targeting young bats with impressive hard-hit rates. McDaniel expects his all-in cost to come in at $94 million. Then there’s Kazuma Okamoto, a 29-year-old right-handed hitter who also projects as a first baseman long-term. He’s watched his home run rate subside but his batting average climb in recent years and offers a more reliable offensive profile than Murakami. McDaniel sees him costing $43 million over three years as a budget alternative to the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, and Murakami.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Mains: ($) Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner spoke to the media this week, using part of the availability to address the financial state of his team. While his statement that the business was losing money based on operating income is likely accurate (Forbes reported that the team lost $57 million by operating income in 2024), that metric is limited in its scope. Income sources including the YES Network and revenue sharing through MLB Advanced Media are not calculated into operating income, making it an incomplete barometer for overall financial health. Steinbrenner also cited the $100 million he pays the city of New York annually as a liability, neglecting to provide the context that this payment is part of the city’s PILOT program which actually leads to overall savings through tax breaks. Forbes also had the franchise gaining $650 million in value in 2024 alone, a far more important long-term harbinger for the club’s finances.

MLB.com | Joe Trezza: After the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League’s six-week season, checking in on how the eight Yankees prospects who participated performed, starting with the group’s standout, Cade Smith. Not to be confused with the Guardians’ closer, the Yankees’ 19th-ranked prospect faced 19 batters before allowing his first hit, finishing with a 2.13 ERA and a 14-2 K/BB ratio. This is particularly encouraging given the AFL’s notoriously hitter-friendly dynamic; Mesa, the team for which the Yankees’ prospects played, finished with a 6.98 team ERA. The other four pitchers in the Yankees’ system found less success, with the best of the rest, Hueston Morrill, posting a 3.12 ERA as Mesa’s closer but walking five against three strikeouts.

On the other side of the ball, infielder Coby Morales picked up seven RBIs in eight games, catcher Manuel Palencia hit .217 while throwing out an above-average 21 percent of prospective base stealers, and infielder Enmanuel Tejada slashed .254/.412/.358 in 20 games.

CBS Sports | Matt Snyder: In an appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s radio show on Monday promoting his new docuseries, Alex Rodriguez decried the double standard of steroid-linked players being held out of the Hall of Fame while the steroid era’s commissioner, Bud Selig, has been enshrined. “The fact that (Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens) are not in, but somehow, Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame, that to me feels like there’s a little bit, some hypocrisy around that,” the three-time MVP argued. Both Bonds and Clemens failed to reach the 75 percent mark needed for induction on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot and have since been passed over on committee ballots as well. For his part, A-Rod garnered 37.1 percent of the vote this year, his fourth on the BBWAA ballot.

MLB.com: Congratulations are in order for Yankees reliever Tim Hill, who was announced Tuesday as the winner of the Boston Red Sox’s 2025 Tony Conigliaro Award. Awarded annually to a “Major Leaguer who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage,” the honor carries on the legacy of its namesake, who saw his promising career cut short by a hit-by-pitch to the face in his age-22 season and died of complications from a stroke at the age of 45. Hill was recognized for his battle with stage three colon cancer, which began at the age of 25 when he was still in the minors and included a regimen of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Hill was declared cancer-free in late 2016 and went on to make his MLB debut two years later.