The New York Yankees are done signing expensive free agents, a source with knowledge of their situation said.
That leaves coveted players like Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman among the 164 free agents still on the market with just 37 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training camps in Florida and Arizona on Feb. 14.
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The New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox are among the teams still looking for options.
But not the Yankees. They made all their signings and trades after losing Juan Soto, who signed with the Mets for 15 years, 765 million dollars just before the Winter Meetings began in Dallas in early December.
Since then, they added pitcher Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year, $12.5 million deal. They also re-signed reliever Jonathan Loaisiga to a one-year, $5 million deal.
New York also traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Cody Bellinger ($25 million this year with a $22.5 million player option next year) and got Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams, who signed an $8.4 million contract this year and is a free agent next year. Additionally, the Yankees traded backup catcher José Treviño to the Cincinnati Reds for reliever Fernando Cruz and Alex Jackson, another backup catcher.
“We’ve worked a lot with (Fried), with Devin Williams, with Bellinger,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said recently. “But there is more (light) lifting to do.”
The Yankees are still looking to sign a mid-level left-handed reliever and release starter Marcus Stroman and his $18.3 million contract, but that’s about it. If Stroman pitches 140 innings this season, he will be awarded another $18.3 million next year.
This would appear to preclude the signing of star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, who could be fined for a west coast club; The Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are reportedly among his targets. Sasaki can sign with a Major League Baseball team any time between January 15 and 24 or must return to the Chiba Lotte Marines, his original Nippon Professional Baseball team.
New York, with $270.6 million committed to 13 players for luxury tax purposes, ranks second in spending so far behind Los Angeles with $336 million, although the Dodgers have already committed money to 19 players. The Yankees were third behind the Dodgers in 2024 with the Mets sandwiched between the two when considering their full 40-man rosters.
The Yankees lost the World Series to the Dodgers in five games in 2024, and in the profitable American League, they are the favorites to return. But joining Soto from the American League champion team are Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Jon Berti, Néstor Cortés and Treviño.
American League teams aren’t spending like the National League this offseason; In particular, NL West clubs (aside from the Colorado Rockies, who have only spent $119.4 million to date) are trying to keep up with the Dodgers’ spending to remain competitive. Likewise, in the NL East, the Mets ($252 million), Philadelphia Phillies ($267 million) and Atlanta Braves ($185.7 million) are spending.
In the American League East, the Red Sox ($182.6 million) and Blue Jays ($163.1 million) have healthy payrolls, but they haven’t made big gains in the free agent market so far in this off season. The Baltimore Orioles ($102.9 million) and Tampa Bay Rays ($62.9 million) have done neither. The Rays, due to storm damage to their Tropicana Field, have to play at the Yankees’ 11,026-seat spring training stadium this season. The team ranks 28th in the MLB in spending.
Even the Houston Astros, so far the Yankees’ biggest enemy, have cut back on spending this season. They have a ninth-in-MLB payroll of $183.1 million, well below last season’s $264.8 million.
And the Texas Rangers, World Series champions in 2023, have reduced their payroll to $212.8 million, $52 million less.
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