About the Off-Season: Thin Ice?
By Tim Kabel
January 16, 2025
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The Yankees will not be signing Roki Sasaki. I was wrong. I thought they had a good chance to do so. But he has decided not to come to New York. It is not yet certain where he will be going but the finalists are apparently the Dodgers, the Padres, and surprisingly, the Blue Jays. It would have been terrific if the Yankees had signed Sasaki. All indications are that he will be a very good starting pitcher. However, Sasaki was a luxury, not a necessity. The Yankees already have a formidable starting rotation. Now that they know they will not be getting Sasaki, they have a clearer idea of what moves they can and will make.
The Yankees are still looking to divest themselves of Marcus Stroman and his contract. Depending on how much of his contract the receiving team will take, that will give the Yankees more financial flexibility as they attempt to fill out their roster. They still need at least one left-handed relief pitcher and a starting infielder. The Yankees are still rumored to be pursuing Andrew Chafin and Tim Hill. Either or both would be a strong addition to the bullpen.
The Yankees may choose to acquire a younger, less expensive infielder for either third base or second base. They do not seem to be interested in either Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado. If they were, they probably would have acquired one of them by now. One thought is that the Yankees might be waiting and hoping that the price comes down on both of them. In Bregman's case, the price would be in dollars in his free agent contract and in Arenado’s case, the price would be in prospects in a trade with the Cardinals. Remember, in 2009, the Yankees sprang out of nowhere to sign Mark Teixeira. That could conceivably happen again.
If the Yankees are interested in acquiring a younger player who is not yet a superstar or earning a huge salary, they do have options. The Detroit Tigers now have a glut of infielders, and they are rumored to be pursuing Alex Bregman. The Yankees may consider trading for Jace Jung. They are also rumored to be considering Alec Bohm of the Phillies, Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals, and Nico Hoerner of the Cubs.
The Yankees have made a few smaller moves in the past couple of days. They signed Dominic Smith, formerly with the Mets and Red Sox to a minor league contract. While that is not a major move, it could have some ramifications. Perhaps it means the Yankees will be trading Ben Rice and will use Smith as the backup for Paul Goldschmidt. Smith has played the outfield in the past as well. Yesterday, the Yankees acquired Michael Arias, a hard throwing relief prospect from the Cubs. He has had difficulties harnessing his power and tends to walk too many batters. The Yankees may feel that Matt Blake and company can straighten him out.
I anticipate that the Yankees will finalize the roster fairly soon. They are waiting until other things fall into place and then they will make their moves. I do not believe that DJ LeMahieu will be a starting infielder for the Yankees in 2025. That would be a bad decision. It would also be bad for Aaron Boone.
One of the most interesting aspects of this off-season is the fact that the Yankees did not give Aaron Boone a contract extension. At this point, he is under contract only through the end of 2025. That is not something that the Yankees have done in the past, particularly with Boone. It is noteworthy. I suspect that if the Yankees have a swoon early on in the season or after getting out to a fast start as has been their habit under Boone, the Yankees may make a change at manager. I suspect that the leash on Aaron Boone will be very short this season. I do not believe that Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner will tolerate another major nosedive by the team. What does that mean for Aaron Boone?
It means that he's going to have to do things differently. He is going to have to manage more effectively and creatively. He is going to have to think on his feet. If he can't do that, he probably won't make it until the end of the season. He cannot do what he has always done, which is to just ride things out and hope for the best. He will actually have to manage. Part of that will be the development of young players.
Considering that Aaron Boone is supposed to be a tremendous communicator, it is rather surprising and alarming that he seems to do very little communicating with his players, especially the young ones. Remember, two years ago when Anthony Volpe worked on developing and improving his swing by consulting with Austin Wells? There have been other instances where Boone has a completely laissez faire attitude with his young players and does not get involved in their development or improvement. I know he has a coaching staff but ultimately, it is his responsibility. I read recently that Gleyber Torres had his late season resurgence last year because during the All-Star break, he worked out with Gio Urshela, who strongly suggested to him that he needed to go the other way with his hitting and drive the ball to rightfield, which has been discussed multiple times. Paul O'Neill talked about it on the Yankees’ broadcasts ad infinitum. Why would this not be addressed by Boone or his coaching staff? Why would they need a former player to discuss this with Torres? Boone is going to have to be more involved with his younger players and be a more active and proactive manager. This leads to another issue.+
If DJ LeMahieu is on the roster, even if he is not the regular third baseman on Opening Day, he will be a temptation for Aaron Boone. If the Yankees have a younger player filling that role, Boone is likely to do what he has always done, which is to plug LeMahieu into the position the moment the young player has a slump. Boone’s over-reliance on fading veterans has been a hallmark of his tenure as the Yankees’ manager. At this point, Aaron Hicks, Jose Trevino, and Anthony Rizzo are gone. If DJ LeMahieu remains on the roster, Boone will view him as “old reliable”. In fact, at this point of his career, LeMahieu is simply old, not reliable.
It will be very interesting to see how the Yankees fill out the roster and how Aaron Boone adjusts to the new reality that he is a lame duck. If he cannot, then he may not make it to the end of the season as the Yankees’ manager. Spring is coming and the ice beneath Boone’s feet is getting thin. He needs to make adjustments, or he will sink fast.
