Strategy of Standing Pat Raises Questions

By Sal Maiorana

February 2026

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Sal Maiorana shares his thoughts on the Yankees. Here is an edited version of Sal's latest article.

For Sal's complete analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

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By just about every measure, the Yankees’ offseason has been underwhelming. Brian Cashman has made it perfectly clear - and obviously Hal Steinbrenner must agree - that running things back with almost the entire 2025 roster is the way to go in 2026.

The Yankees tied for first in the AL East with 94 wins, but they lost the tiebreaker with the Blue Jays because Toronto destroyed them in the regular season. And then, after a stirring defeat of the Red Sox in the wildcard round, the Yankees got crushed again by the Blue Jays in the divisional round.

So, in 2025 the Yankees took a couple steps backward from 2024 when they won the AL pennant, yet Cashman believes doing almost nothing to the team will enable them to somehow improve in 2026. Well, that’s certainly a thought exercise.

What Cashman sees is that running it back with a team that led MLB in runs scored (849), home runs (274), total bases (2,488) and OPS (.787) isn’t such a bad thing, and maybe he’s right, but he’s also squarely in the crosshairs if this team can’t reproduce those offensive numbers because the pitching staff has some serious questions.

The latest addition to the team - which wasn’t an addition at all - was the re-signing last weekend of over-the-hill 38-year-old first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year deal, a player who went into steep decline in the second half of last season, and who apparently conjured little interest from other teams on the free agent market.

That means that of the 26 players who were on the divisional round roster last October, all but two are still on the team: Relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, both of whom signed with the Mets.

It’s puzzling to me what Cashman and the hierarchy are thinking here, because while the Yankees stood pat and, of course, got older by a year, the rest of the division seems to have improved. The Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Orioles all made significant additions in free agency or via trades, and while the Rays didn’t do a whole lot, that’s nothing new yet they’re still annually a pain to deal with.

Gambling is something I have zero interest in, and so I pay no attention to betting odds to win the World Series. Still, this stuff gets jammed down our throats all the time so it was hard not to notice that the Yankees are the second-heaviest betting favorite behind only the dynastic Dodgers who not only have won the last two championships, but have gotten even better in 2026.

How the Yankees are favored ahead of the Mariners who might be the best team in the AL, and the Blue Jays, is a mystery to me. I don’t believe that for a second, though I hope I’m wrong. 

Here are a few thoughts I have now that we’re about a week away from those words we all love: Pitchers and catchers reporting.

Starting rotation

The Yankees will not have Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt when the season opens at the end of March. Rodon will miss at least the first month and probably more, Cole would be lucky to return by June 1, and Schmidt may not be available until August. And here’s the thing: When they all return, what will they be?

It’s funny how people just think Cole will come back and be the same ace that he was before Tommy John surgery. Folks, that’s just not realistic. He’s now 35 years old and his best days are in the rearview mirror. He’ll still be good, but even that may not happen right away. The best case scenario for him is that he gets back and pitches reliably, works through his issues and he’s ready to be at his best in October.

As for Rodon, remember when he missed the first half of 2023, his first year with the Yankees? When he finally came back, he was a train wreck and put up a 6.85 ERA. The problem then was a lat strain and back injury; now it’s his elbow. That’s worrisome. Rodon has been very good the last two years, but there are questions about his ability to bounce back.

In the meantime, the Yankees have Max Fried and a whole bunch of questions. Can Cam Schlittler be as good as he was when he debuted last year? Can Will Warren, who was better than people realize in 2025, show more improvement and make another 32 starts? What is Luis Gil besides a guy who can throw hard and sometimes can’t control the ball? And is Ryan Weathers, who the Yankees acquired from the Marlins in a trade, be someone who can help bridge the gap to the return of Rodon and Cole given his career 4.93 ERA in 70 career appearances, including just 55 starts?

Bullpen

The losses of Williams and Weaver are significant, mainly because the Yankees didn’t sufficiently replace them, and now they’re going to rely on David Bednar to close, and Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz to be the late-inning options.

Bednar should be fine because his velocity plays up as a closer and he handled the job well after he took over for Williams. But Cruz was crazy inconsistent; one day he was unhittable, the next day he was walking guys all over the place (4.5 per nine innings). And Doval was kind of a disaster after he came over at the trade deadline from the Giants, posting a 4.82 ERA and 1.607 WHIP with New York. These are the guys they’re entrusting the late innings to.

Beyond that there’s Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough who are the only lefties in the bullpen, and Yarbrough may be needed as a spot starter. They brought back Paul Blackburn, I guess to be the mop-up man in blowouts, and he’s barely qualified for that with a career 4.97 ERA and 1.414 WHIP. 

What the Yankees really need is for 2025 trade acquisition Jake Bird to get it together and pitch like he did for the Rockies before coming to the Yankees and imploding. And it would be very nice if someone among the young group of Brent Headrick, Yerry De los Santos, Angel Chivilli and Rule 5 draft pick Cade Winquest can make an impact.

The bullpen is a concern, and depending on how things go this spring - who gets hurt, who emerges or doesn’t as useful - Cashman may need to trade for someone before the season begins.

Infield

For several months, the Yankees seemed to indicate that Ben Rice was going to be the full-time first baseman with the hope that he could improve against lefty pitching. Last year he hit .269 against righties but just .207 against lefties. Well, apparently they’re a little squeamish because they’re bringing back Goldschmidt, and while I don’t think it will be a full righty-lefty platoon, Goldschmidt will take some of Rice’s at bats away.

Jazz Chisholm is back to play second and hopefully he can stay healthy because when he played, he was very good. Yes, some of his befuddlements drive us all crazy, but in 130 games he hit 31 homers, stole 31 bases and had an .813 OPS. There aren’t many second baseman with that line which is why he won the Silver Slugger award (best hitter at his position).

Ryan McMahon can’t hit a lick, but he’s as good as it gets in the field at third base. The hope is that with a full spring training with the Yankees, he can get into a nice groove and perhaps take advantage of the short porch because when he’s not striking out, which is frequently, he’s got some pop.

Shortstop is going to be interesting. Anthony Volpe will be out at least the first month and probably more, so it’s looking like Jose Caballaro and Oswaldo Cabrera are going to be time-sharing. Neither of them is starter worthy and are much better suited as bench players, so it might not be a bad idea for Cashman to look for an upgrade, though it’s tough to figure where one might be coming from. Besides, the Yankees continue to love them some Volpe, so I doubt they would bring someone else in and will opt to ride it out with Caballaro and Cabrera until Volpe returns.

What’s so weird about the catching situation is that once again, the Yankees are going into a season with no right-handed hitting receivers. Austin Wells is the No. 1, JC Escarra is No. 2 and Rice will be mixed in once in a while like he was last year. 

Wells was very good defensively in 2025, but while he hit 21 homers and drove in 71 runs, it just feels like he should be giving them more than a .219 average and .275 on-base, both of which are terrible. Escarra is also a good defender who hit a paltry .202, so how can Cashman tell us there’s not a better backup option somewhere who bats right-handed? 

Outfield

For the life of me, I still don’t understand why the Yankees gave Trent Grisham the qualifying offer. Did they truly believe he would turn down $22 million for one year, which is more than he had made in his entire career? If they thought he would, and therefore the Yankees could have received draft pick compensation if he signed somewhere else, that was just a stupid miscalculation.

Grisham had a career season in 2025, but that’s what it feels like, a career season that he’ll never replicate. He hit 34 homers which was almost half the total he had accumulated in his first six seasons, much of that as a platoon player. He also hit just .235, his defensive metrics were down from past years, and he was invisible in the postseason, yet now he’s the full-time center fielder again this year.

The big offseason move - pretty much the only offseason move - was bringing back Cody Bellinger and that’s fine, assuming he doesn’t continue his career trend of one good season followed by a down one. If that’s the case, that’s not promising for 2026. However, I do believe Bellinger found a home at Yankee Stadium last season and he was smart to come back, and if there’s one player besides Aaron Judge that I’m not going to worry about, it’s Bellinger. He’s a good hitter with some power, and his defense is excellent.

With Judge in right, the return of Bellinger and Grisham clouds the future of Jasson Dominguez because he doesn’t have a starting position, at least until Giancarlo Stanton gets hurt, which you know will happen. When it does, then Judge will be used as the DH, Dominguez will play left and Bellinger right. But for now, is it worth keeping Dominguez on the team instead of sending him to Triple-A where he can play every day? 

If he could hit lefties, then he’d have a solid place because he could pinch hit for Grisham, and then Bellinger could play center. But Dominguez can’t hit lefties which really diminishes his value.