About The Off-Day: Looking Ahead

About The Off-Day: Looking Ahead

By Tim Kabel

September 8, 2026

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The Yankees were off yesterday after splitting a six-game road trip against the Angels and Padres. Tonight, they will open a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at home. Then they will play the second half of the subway series at home against the Mets this weekend.

There are only 19 games left in the regular season for the Yankees. Right now, they are in second place in the American League East and are the top Wild Card team. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by four games in the American League East and by the time you read this, they should be two games ahead of the Red Sox in both the Wild Card race and the Division, as the Red Sox were beating the Angels while this was being written.

Aaron Judge is due back at some point very soon. It could even be tonight. Aaron Boone hinted that Giancarlo Stanton also might not be finished for the season. Frankly that seems preposterous since Stanton injured his left hamstring and collapsed as he was running the bases while he was trying to recover from a right hamstring injury. Morton's does not make enough grains of salt for all the statements that Aaron Boone makes.

Clarke Schmidt is also expected to return. It is uncertain whether Ryan Weathers will be able to play again this season. The same applies to Trent Grisham.

There is a great deal of uncertainty about these players and also about how well the Yankees will do in the playoffs. The Yankees have been streaky and inconsistent this season during Judge's absence. They went through a long stretch of mediocrity. No one has any idea how well Judge will perform when he returns but after such a long layoff and suffering a very serious injury, it is unreasonable to expect him to perform at his MVP level.

While we all sit back and see how things play out. I want to take a minute to look at the future of the Yankees. I am not factoring in anything to do with a potential lockout or strike.

Heading into 2027, The Yankees will probably look a lot different than they did at the beginning of this season, or even now. However, the starting rotation probably will not be very much different. The only difference is that Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon should start the season healthy and in the rotation. That would give the Yankees a starting rotation of Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and either Will Warren or Ryan Weathers. 

The biggest question with the bullpen is David Bednar. Hopefully, the Yankees will bring him back as he is a very effective closer. It is likely that Elmer Rodriguez and Carlos Lagrange will be members of the bullpen as well. Angel Chivilli showed a lot of potential before that one bad game against the Cardinals and his subsequent injury.

The position players will probably be the area where the Yankees have the most change next year. It is doubtful that they will bring Paul Goldschmidt back, although they might. However, first base will likely be a rotation between Ben Rice and Luis Garcia, Jr.. When one of them is playing first base, the other one will be the DH. On days when Aaron Judge needs to be the DH, it would probably be Garcia who would sit. Ben Rice has become a major force for the Yankees and has been discussed as an MVP candidate. It is possible that he will be even better with another year under his belt.

I find it highly unlikely that the Yankees will bring back Jazz Chisolm to play second base. He struggled a lot this season and was inconsistent. He set lofty goals for himself which he could not reach. It was a disappointing season that will probably cost him a great deal of money when he signs his next contract. He also brings a lot of baggage to the team which is fine when he's producing but not so great when he isn't. I suspect that the second baseman for the Yankees next year will be Anthony Volpe, who put his head down and went to work in Scranton after he was demoted. He is learning to play second base and is reportedly doing a good job. He is young and could anchor that position for quite a while.

George Lombard, Jr. is learning to be a Major League shortstop as we speak. If the Yankees gave Volpe three years to develop, it is safe to assume they will give Lombard plenty of time to grow. He has shown a great deal of potential so far.

Ryan McMahon has been a disappointment at third base. He is fine defensively, but his offense has been totally unacceptable. He has occasional flashes of being adequate which causes great excitement amongst the announcers and some fans. However, the Yankees need to do better. The Yankees have supposedly expressed interest in Teruaki Sato, who is expected to be posted to the MLB in the offseason. He is a left-handed power hitting third baseman., who will turn 28 in March. The Yankees have revamped their international development program and may finally be ready to once again recruit and sign players from Japan.

Cody Bellinger will return in leftfield. Despite some injuries, he had a solid year for the Yankees and is a major offensive contributor. If he is combined with a healthy Aaron Judge, he will be even more effective.

Trent Grisham may well have played his last game for the Yankees. If he does not return from his hamstring injury this season, that will definitely be the case. Spencer Jones has proven that he can perform on the Major League level and is improving steadily. The best thing about the 2026 season is that Jones and Lombard have been given the opportunity to gain experience and develop on the Major League level. Jones has proven to be surprisingly adept at hitting left-handed pitching.

Aaron Judge should be healthy and ready to go at the beginning of next season in right field. A lot of people have stated that he should be the DH fairly often. However, the Yankees will be full in that department with the combination of Rice and Garcia. Besides, Judge has made it very clear that he considers himself to be an outfielder and wants to play there. If the best player on the team and in the league, who is also your captain wants to play the outfield, he's going to play the outfield.

Speaking of designated hitter, the Giancarlo Stanton era is over. Despite what Aaron Boone stated recently, Stanton will not play again this season. The Yankee should release him in the off-season because there is no point to keeping him on the roster. As I wrote in an earlier article, the Yankees should have a Giancarlo Stanton Day and thank him for his service to the team and wish him well. There should be no retiring of his number or putting a plaque for him in Monument Park. A day with some parting gifts would be appropriate.

That leaves the position of catcher. Austin Wells had an awful season offensively. I know he improved in the past several weeks. However, the improvement is what brought his performance up to the level of awful. Prior to that it was sub-awful. At this point, he is batting .185 with 10 home runs and 28 RBI. However, he is an excellent defensive catcher, who is highly regarded by the pitching staff. If the Yankees could take some of their assets and make a trade with the Rockies for Hunter Goodman, that would upgrade the offense a great deal. He will be turning 27 in October and is a right-handed batter with a lot of power. The Yankees would have to give up a lot of prospects to get him, but it might be possible. If it's not, then the Yankees may be better off sticking with Wells. Wells’ poor offense isn't the problem. It's Wells’ poor offense combined with the poor offense from McMahon, Grisham, and to a large extent, Chisholm that is the problem. Carrying Wells alone would not be a major problem, as long as the Yankees acquired a solid right-handed hitting back-up. Again, if the Yankees can acquire Goodman, they should do so. 

The current Yankees team has some flaws and weak spots. Due to injuries and other issues, they are starting to find solutions for those problems as they end this season. Namely, the development of Spencer Jones and George Lombard will be key components for the Yankees moving forward. The resurrection of Anthony Volpe could be a major part of the Yankees future also. They simply need to get the final pieces of the puzzle.