Winter Meetings Update: No Yankee Moves
- E.J. Fagan
- Dec 11, 2025
- 3 min read
By E.J. Fagan
December 11, 2025
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
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The Winter Meetings are over. The Yankees somehow didn’t lose anyone in the major league Rule V draft and even took some guy named Cade Winquest as a bullpen lottery ticket. I’m a little surprised that no team took a shot at Brandon Beck or TJ Rumfield, but maybe those guys are destined to be journeymen.
We don’t have any real news other than Brian Cashman saying that things are slow. Some other players signed, but I don’t think there was a world where Edwin Diaz, Pete Alonso or Kyle Schwarber were going to end up Yankees. They’re clearly still haggling with Scott Boras over Cody Bellinger.
But we do have some new players to talk about. Let’s do a quick round up.
Edward Cabrera
The Marlins are shopping Cabrera, although it’s unclear if the Yankees are interested. I hope they pass.
Cabrera is under team control for three more seasons, so I understand why a lot of Yankee fans seems interested in acquiring him. My problem is that he’s not that good. 2025 was his best season yet, and it wasn't great.
He’s got great stuff, but an odd pitching profile. His primary pitch is a 94 mph “changeup.” He also throws a 97 mph sinker and 99 mph two seamer. I’m sure that some pitching coaches would like to play around with his mix, but the Marlins aren’t exactly bad at developing pitching. He also has had trouble staying healthy.
I’d take Cabrera in a vacuum, but I imagine that the Marlins would only consider trading him if they got a pretty significant return. I’m not trading Jasson Dominguez for a guy who is probably your 6th best starter on June 1st.
Corey Seager
Here’s a fun one. Fresh off of getting rid of Marcus Semien, the Rangers are kinda sorta maybe a little bit listening to offers on Corey Seager.
The shortstop is owed $31.5 million for the next six years. That’s a big contract, but I imagine he would make more if he hit free agency today. In 2025 he was worth over 6 WAR in just 102 games even with some not great batted ball luck.
Seager is quietly putting together a Hall of Fame career. Everyone speculated that he would quickly move off shortstop after signing the big contract, but he’s quietly emerged as one of baseball’s better fielders in the last few years. He feels like a guy who will age well.
Texas clearly doesn’t just want a salary dump in return for Seager’s services, although there isn’t so much surplus value that he would require a colossal package. I’m sure that the Yankees would work out a package that works for them. But I’m not sure that the Yankees want to add a 32 year-old making $31.5 million to the payroll. I’d do it, but it’s not my money.
Brendan Doyle
The Rockies are shopping their centerfielder. I guess he’s a Bellinger backup plan? He’s another all-field no-bat Rockies guy.
He’s a bit overqualified to be a bench bat (4.0 WAR in 2024), but Doyle did post huge platoon splits last year (.839 OPS against righties .593 OPS against lefties), albeit with more modest splits previously. He’s under team control for four more years. I have trouble seeing him as a starter, even if you think there’s some juice to squeeze out of a talented ex-Rockies player. Weird rumor.
The more I observe the Yankees passing on players that can help, the more I realize that signing Bellinger will be the ONLY big time signing. We are basically going into 2026 with the same team as last year. Cashman really screwed up this time giving Grisham the $22 million QO which I'd bet he never expected him to accept. There goes $22 mill that could have been better spent. I hope I'm wrong but we're dealing with Hal here whose focus is money, not World Series championships.
" I’d do it, but it’s not my money."
Hal won't but George would.
I'm more in favor of trading for signing Cody Bellinger than I am for trading for Corey Seager. I believe in Jasson Dominguez because when he does manage to make contact, he hits the ball very hard, but he's flat out unplayable vs LHP. I think the Yankees should give him a chance to be an every day player due to his age and his need for reps, given that Spencer Jones could potentially fix his swing a bit in Scranton and then force his way into playing time in the Yankees outfield after the All-Star break.
Both Bellinger and Seager are elite, two-way players. Which is a better fit for the Yankees though, that's the question. With Grisham and…
Wow. Braves just announced Robert Suarez for 3/$45mm. How in the world could the Yankees not beat that for one of the game’s top closers? Pushes everybody down one. Could then fill in the back end with low cost options. They continue to operate at a level that I just dont get.
E.J. provided a fun to read piece that gives a couple of chuckles due to his sharp wit and insights. I ecpecially liked his take on Corey Seager & agree fully.
What else can I add today? hmmmmm. Well - it looks like the Yankees are indeed still haggling with Scott Boras regarding Cody Bellinger, who remains the best overall fit if Cashman is only allowed to sign one single free agent.
My take is that the Yankees need to get younger and I think they know this all too well. Perpahs the Yankees would rather get younger this offseason? Enter Dominguez and Jones, why block their paths to playing time in 2027? Grisham is a one-year solution and I'm…