About the Off-Season: The Final Pieces of the Puzzle
By Tim Kabel
January 9, 2025
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The Yankees have made several moves to strengthen their roster heading into the 2025 season. After losing Juan Soto to the Mets, the Yankees have plugged up multiple holes on their team. They traded for Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz, and Cody Bellinger. They also signed Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt. While they have improved the team greatly and have answered many questions, there are still a few roster spots that need to be filled.
The Yankees need another starting infielder. Whether that person plays second base, or third base will be determined. It seems that the Yankees would prefer to move Jazz Chisholm, Jr. back to second base and acquire someone else to play third. If they are unable to do that, they will get someone to play second base and keep Chisolm at third. They also need at least one, if not two, left-handed relief pitchers. They have been rumored to be pursuing Andrew Chafin and may well reunite with Tim Hill. It should be noted that Tanner Scott remains unsigned at this point. He would be more costly than either Chafin or Hill but, if the Yankees were able to unload Marcus Stroman, they might be able to swing it. The acquisition of Scott and Hill would give the Yankees an extremely dominant bullpen.
As far as the infielder goes, every single day there are more stories suggesting almost anybody for the vacancy on the Yankees. As we go further into the off-season, the suggestions for the Yankees’ acquisition get closer to the bottom of the barrel. I recently read a trade proposal for Davis Schneider and a suggestion that the Yankees could sign Jorge Polanco. If those are the best choices, I would see if Willie Randolph still had his glove lying around. I suspect that the Yankees will get someone to play either third base or second base, but they are taking their time and not rushing into anything. That makes sense. Last time I checked, the season isn't opening next week.
I do not believe the suggestions that the Yankees are willing to go into the season with DJ LeMahieu as the starting third baseman. The fact that Aaron Boone waxed poetic about LeMahieu is not convincing. The only thing it convinced me about is that Boone should be on a short leash. If he truly believes that DJ LeMahieu is a credible option, then he himself has no credibility. It is highly doubtful that Jorge Polanco, Davis Schneider, or DJ LeMahieu will be playing significant roles for the Yankees in 2025. I don't believe any of them will be on the Opening Day roster. The Yankees will get another infielder in the next few weeks. There is a more intriguing situation to discuss.
Roki Sasaki can sign a Major League contract with any team beginning on January 15th. The window for his signing will close on January 23rd. Today is January 9th. I believe he will sign shortly after the 15th, if not on that date itself. I have read innumerable articles about Sasaki. Some feel that he will definitely go to the Dodgers or the Padres. Other articles suggest that the Yankees have a legitimate shot to sign him. We will know soon enough but since there will not be a huge bidding war because Sasaki can't sign a Major League free agent contract, I think the Yankees will have a very good chance to reel him in. If they do, they will have quite possibly the best starting rotation in the Major Leagues. They will also have depth from which they can make a trade. Whether they will or not is unclear. First, we have to see if they can sign Sasaki.
If the Yankees sign Sasaki, which is a real possibility, their roster will be very impressive. We know that the Yankees will acquire an infielder, we just don't know who it is yet or which position he will play. Ideally, it would be someone to bat leadoff but, that also remains to be seen. The Yankees will also add at least one left-handed relief pitcher. That and the fact that they will bring in another infielder age givens. What is not a given is the signing of Sasaki but if that does occur, the Yankees would have their strongest roster in many years.
We are in the home stretch of the off-season. The Yankees will be making their final roster moves in the next few weeks before spring training begins next month. They have done a great deal but if they were to stand pat and enter the season with DJ LeMahieu as the third baseman, it would remove a lot of the luster from the accomplishments Cashman has made so far. They need to finish the job and as there are not that many shopping days left in the off-season, it should happen very soon.
