NEW YORK — The dance between Cody Bellinger’s representatives and the Yankees entered a second month, with the club offering five years and the player’s side hoping for more, while Aaron Boone held out hope for a quick resolution.
As he himself said: “Who wouldn’t want a player like that?”
Bellinger was the Bombers’ top target, one they got this week by agree to a five-year, US$162.5 million pact. The manager was asked: If the highlight of the winter turns out to be Bellinger’s return, would that be enough?
“You always try to make your club better and make your team better,” Boone said at the time, “but [tú] You also pause and say, ‘Hey, we’re really good here.’ “And we have a lot of good players, and a lot of young core players that came up at different levels last year.”
Tarik Skubal also appears to be out of reach: The Yankees inquired about the left-hander who won two consecutive American League Cy Young Awards, but the Tigers told them they don’t have the necessary trade pieces. The Yankees were linked to Marlins Sandy Alcantara again this winter, but those talks stalled.
Although owner Hal Steinbrenner said in November that it would be “ideal” to reduce payroll after finishing last season at $319 million, the Yankees have not done so in any significant way.
Bellinger’s signing pushed the Yankees’ projected Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) payroll well above the luxury tax’s highest threshold of $304 million: FanGraphs pegs his CBT figure at $317.8 million, while Cot’s Contracts places it at US$320.1 million.
So a scenario Boone mentioned in December now appears to be in place: The Yankees are positioned to repeat largely the same group from 2025, banking on continued development and Gerrit Cole’s healthy return in May or June to improve on a 94-win season that ended with an early playoff exit.
Additional dominoes could still fall once Bellinger’s deal is official. The 30-year-old’s return solidifies the outfield alongside Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, a setup that Jasson Dominguez had trouble fitting into last year, especially in the second half.
Dominguez was limited to just 110 at-bats after the All-Star break and appeared just once during the postseason: a ninth-inning at-bat in the final game of the American League Division Series against the Blue Jays, when he doubled off the right-center field wall.
After participating in winter baseball to gain defensive reps and more swings from the right side of the plate, Dominguez is still young — he turns 23 next month — but the Yankees must determine if they see a path for him to see consistent playing time.
General manager Brian Cashman recently acknowledged that he considered sending Dominguez to the minors in the second half of last season, but said he “didn’t think it was the right thing to do.”
“He gave us a chance to run into something off the bench, especially with his speed to go along with [José] Gentleman,” Cashman said. “But I still think there’s some potential there.”
Also potentially displaced by Bellinger’s return is Spencer Jones, who turns 25 in May and was expected to challenge Dominguez for the starting left field job this spring.
Coming off a productive campaign at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, in which he hit 35 home runs and posted a .933 OPS (but also struck out 179 times in 438 at-bats), Jones could continue to add development time, but Cashman acknowledged that he would have already been promoted in other organizations.
“He’s an exciting young talent who, again, is unproven at the major league level,” Cashman said of Jones, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Yankees’ No. 4 prospect. “We’re going to find out at some point, or someone else will find out at some point, if they take it away from me.”
It stands to reason that the Yankees could offer either Dominguez or Jones if they hope to complete another trade before Opening Day, potentially to improve their bullpen, which is currently anchored by David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill.
The Yankees find solace in the pending returns of Cole and Carlos Rodón, the latter scheduled to return in April or early May. That could push Ryan Weathers or Will Warren into a relief role, with Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn already slated for similar assignments.
The overall balance of the roster still needs to be addressed, as Cashman acknowledged concerns that the club is too left-handed.
The Yankees have been linked to free agent outfielders Austin Hays and Harrison Bader in some reports. Cashman also said it would be ideal to add a right-handed hitting catcher, although he said that was “probably a less realistic option” due to a limited market.
