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For those complaining that the Yankees are running back the same team as 2025, you probably missed that since late July they have added Jake Bird, Angel Chivilli, Yanquiel Fernández and Ryan McMahon.
Or four players from a Rockies team that lost 119 games last year.
That is a bit of a cheap shot at the Yankees. But also an attempt to note we are not talking about the actual 2025 Rockies running back the majority of a roster. Or, as one general manager who thinks the Yankees did well this offseason said: “They weren’t bad and running it back. They were good and are running it back.”
And I am not even sure they are running it back. The Yankees acquired Ryan Weathers, didn’t have an inning of Gerrit Cole last year, and will have a full season of trade deadline acquisitions McMahon, who improved their defense; Jose Caballero, who upgraded their speed/versatility; and David Bednar, who steadied their bullpen; plus Bird and Camilo Doval to perhaps be better for them in 2026.
Also, free agents are — key word — “free.” So returning notably Cody Bellinger’s all-around value plus also Trent Grisham’s lefty power, the righty bats of Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario, and the ability of Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbough to deepen the pitching staff was not assured.
The end result is a team that betting sites generally project to the highest Over/Under win total in the American League entering spring training. Additionally, at this time of year, when I talk to executives I will inquire what their models project win-wise for the New York teams. And I have yet to speak to one that does not have the Yankees at the top of the AL or just off of it.
Of course, these are educated forecasts and not certainties — these entities loved the Mets and Braves last year, and hated the Blue Jays. But I like to ask because these are not fans or media but operations trying to filter out bias to fully grasp their competition, and the consensus expects the Yankees to be very good whether you view the Yankees roster as static or not.
Brian Cashman, for the most part, is running back the 2025 roster. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostOne GM I thought most thoroughly conveyed a near universal feeling said, “I know it’s not exciting to fans to say we are running it back, but they were good last year. Bellinger is a uniquely good fit for that ballpark [Yankee Stadium]. Their offense was awesome last year, and we have them with the Dodgers to be awesome again this year.
“Weathers is a perfect fit because he doesn’t have to give them 150 good innings. If they get 90 from him, that would really help because they may have more pitching coming in June and July [notably Carlos Rodón and Cole], and we like some of their young guys [pitching prospects].
“Winning the offseason is so overrated. If Bellinger played for someone else and they brought him in, that would be viewed as an A-plus move. They got better on the bases and defense as last year went on, [Anthony] Volpe was playing with a busted up shoulder. Cole didn’t play. I look at it and I wouldn’t have done much different from them.”
On a technical level, the one player not in the organization last year who could most impact the 2026 team is Weathers, who arrives with these quirky facts:
1. The Padres have had the seventh overall draft pick twice in their 57-year history and took a lefty starter both times — Max Fried in 2012 and Weathers in 2018. Both are now Yankees.
2. His father, David Weathers, once had former major league pitcher, Mel Stottlemyre, as his pitching coach (Yankees). His son, Ryan, had Mel’s son, former major league pitcher, Mel Jr., as a pitching coach (Marlins).
3. The first trade ever between the Yankees and Marlins was July 31, 1996, when David Weathers came to New York for Mark Hutton. The most recent trade between the teams was Ryan for three prospects.
Joel Sherman compares the Yankees’ Ryan Weather trade to that of the Nathan Eovaldi acquisition. APYet, it is another Yankees-Marlins trade that I think of with Weathers. Nathan Eovaldi had begun in the NL West (Dodgers) and was traded to the Marlins. In both places he showed high-end talent, but in part because of injury had not fully refined and was traded to the Yankees after his age-24 season with three years of control left. He came with the reputation as fearless, a hard worker and superb teammate. Eovaldi was good as a Yankee in 2015-16 before missing the entire 2017 season after needing Tommy John surgery.
It was not until leaving the Yankees that Eovaldi fully bloomed as a consistent high-quality starter who was way better than that in the postseason and gained a reputation as among the best teammates in the game.
Weathers was traded from the NL West (Padres) to the Marlins. In both places he showed high-end talent, but in part because of lost development time in 2020 due to no minor league season (COVID) and injury, he had not fully refined and was traded to the Yankees after his age-25 season with three years of control left and with the reputation as fearless, a hard worker and superb teammate.
Weathers’ profile was enticing enough that the Marlins had many offers to try to grab him and see if a new team could keep him healthy, and finish off a trajectory in which in recent years he augmented his high-end fastball with much better spin and a quality changeup.
Stottlemyre Jr., who was his pitching coach in 2023-24, called Weathers “Super competitive, probably an over-worker and a thinking man’s pitcher.” Stottlemyre said Weathers could be his “own worst enemy” because he wants to work so much — Stottlemyre cited his hunger to throw a lot between starts.
But he added, “This is a guy who’s going to keep his nose clean, work his ass off, study, study, study. He’s smart. If he puts together a year where he can stay healthy and stay out there, you’re going to see a top-tier pitcher. You really are. It’s that kind of stuff. When he is out there on a regular basis, his stuff spells ace.”
If Weathers is even close to that, it would be a change for the better from 2025 for the Yankees.
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