About the Off-Season: Rumblings or Grumblings?

About the Off-Season: Rumblings or Grumblings?

By Tim Kabel

December 18, 2025

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If you are like me, you are still basking in the euphoria of the Yankees’ signing of Tijn Fredrikze.  I tried to order my Fredrikze jersey yesterday, but he doesn't have a number yet. I may just go with 00, because he is probably twice as good as Marcus Stroman.

Anyway, as difficult as it is, we have to move past Fredrikze, although he is constantly blowing in the windmills of my mind (pun intended). There were a lot of rumblings yesterday and it appears that more moves will be made very soon. The Yankees may even emerge from their stupor and do something. It seems as if Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner got caught up in all the hullabaloo (pun intended) regarding Fat Bear Week and actually went into hibernation themselves.

It makes sense for things to heat up now. I'm sure a lot of players and agents, other than Scott Boras of course, want to get things wrapped up (pun intended) before Christmas. While deals can certainly be made during the actual holidays, they are less common. Besides since Christmas Day and New Year's Day are both on Thursdays this year, that will create extra-long weekends.

The first batch of rumors concerns Cody Bellinger. Again, because he is represented by Scott Boras and they may want to see what happens with Kyle Tucker, this one might not happen so fast. But what has been reported is that although Boras tends to move with the sense of urgency of a three-toed sloth, apparently Bellinger himself wants to move things more quickly. Therefore, his market is heating up. The Dodgers and Mets are reportedly in on him. That makes sense since Bellinger started out with the Dodgers in the first place. It would be a homecoming for him. The Mets make sense because as we all know, the Yankees have opened a retirement home for their former players, it is called Citi Field. Now, if the Mets would only take Aaron Boone along with all the ex-players, I would be even more excited than I was when the Yankees signed Fredrikze, if such a thing is even possible.

However, the Yankees are reportedly the front runner to sign Bellinger. Of course, that would involve the Yankees actually offering him a contract and following up to make sure that he signs it. I'm going over this step by step because it seems to be a relatively unfamiliar process for Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner. So, if the Yankees do ultimately sign Bellinger, what else could they do?

There were rumblings about Bo Bichette yesterday as well. The peeps out of Bo (pun intended) indicate he that he is willing to change positions. The most likely spot for him to play would be second base. The Yankees are considered to be a contender for him as well.

Again, this presumes that the Yankees would actually make him an offer and so forth as described above. The devil is in the details as they say. This would fit with those persistent rumors about the Yankees trading Jazz Chisholm. Jr.. Bo and Jazz are the same age and although Jazz is probably a better fielder and is a better base runner, Bichette is a superior hitter and is right-handed, something Cashman has openly stated the Yankees want. In addition, Jazz will be a free agent after the 2026 season. If the Yankees sign Bichette, second base would be locked up for several years.

Furthermore, trading Jazz would bring someone back. Again, the Corey Seager trade rumors are not going away. It would make sense to trade Jazz as part of a package to get Seager. Why? Because the Rangers would pick up whatever prospects the Yankees sent along with Jazz and having Jazz on the team would allow the Rangers to be competitive in 2026. If they are not competitive, they could trade Jazz at the deadline and pick up even more prospects. 

Acquiring Seager would make sense for the Yankees, especially if they do not bring Bellinger back. If they do bring Bellinger back, Brian Cashman may need to use the jaws of life to pry Hal Steinbrenner’s wallet open for the expense. We have discussed many ways the Yankees could shed payroll, including trading Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon.

A third batch of rumors concerned Alex Bregman. To me, that seems to be the least likely scenario, as he will be very expensive. A less expensive and younger option would be Kazuma Okamoto from Japan. If the Yankees were to import him (pun intended), he would be another right-handed batter in the lineup.

There are a lot of moving parts here, so it is hard to keep track of everything and to know which way the Yankees will go. So far, they have gone nowhere and done nothing, which is easy to keep track of. A blindfolded person could monitor the Yankees’ activities to this point. I know, I didn't forget about Frederikze. Who could? I hate to be a Dutch uncle here (pun intended), but the Yankees really need to do something.

All of these rumblings better lead to something other than all the grumbling we fans have been doing over the inactivity of Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner.