American League East Preview: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees finished the 2025 season with a 94-68 record, coming up second in the AL East. They lost the division on a tiebreaker to the Toronto Blue Jays, after struggling against them in the regular and postseason. This season, the vibes are high around the Yankees going into the season.

Yankees Offseason Moves

The Yankees ran it back this offseason. They brought back many of the same players from 2025 because of how good Aaron Boone and the rest of the organization felt about the team.

They brought back Cody Bellinger on a five-year, $162 million deal, which was their biggest splash of the offseason. They also brought back Amed Rosario, Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan Yarbrough, and Paul Blackburn to round out the roster.

The only notable offseason additions the Yankees added to the roster that were not on the 2025 roster include lefty starter Ryan Weathers and bullpen arm Cade Winquest, and possibly Randal Grichuk. The Yankees also acquired Angel Chivilli from the Rockies this offseason, but he will start the season in Triple A.

Projected Yankees Lineup (via FanGraphs)

1. Trent Grisham (L, CF)
2. Aaron Judge (R, RF)
3. Cody Bellinger (L, LF)
4. Ben Rice (L 1B)
5. Giancarlo Stanton (R, DH)
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L, 2B)
7. Austin Wells (L, C)
8. José Caballero (R, SS)
9. Ryan McMahon (L, 3B)

In 2025, the Yankees' lineup ranked among the top offenses in baseball, leading the league in multiple categories, including home runs. Judge is still in his prime and should continue to do Judgian things, as he is still the odds-on favorite to be the AL MVP. Stanton, while getting older and still suffering from tennis elbow, was very good for the Yankees when he returned from injury in 2025, and has looked really good in spring training.

Rice and Wells are the keys to the Yankees' lineup. Rice was productive in 2025 and hit a bit of bad luck all season. If that bad luck evens out for Rice, even a little bit, his production for the Yankees will be that much better. Wells has struggled to this point in his career offensively, but both he and the team believe there is more in the tank. He showed that potential in the WBC playing for Team Dominican Republic and coming through with a lot of big hits in the Classic. If he carries some of that production over to the Yankees in both the regular and postseason, the team will be even better offensively.

The Yankees will also begin the season with Anthony Volpe on the injured list and Caballero as the starting shortstop. This should benefit the Yankees offensively, as Caballero was better offensively than Volpe in 2025, especially with the Yankees. Caballero also did work in the offseason with Driveline, which may help his approach at the plate.

Projected Yankees Rotation (via FanGraphs)

1. Max Fried (L)
2. Cam Schlittler (R)
3. Will Warren (R)
4. Ryan Weathers (L)
5. Luis Gil (R)

The Yankees' rotation has potential. Fried was a Cy Young contender in 2025, aside from a few summer starts when he pitched through a blistered finger. Schlittler, who took the league by storm in 2025, will get a full season in the Yankees' rotation. Schlittler is adjusting his pitch mix in an attempt to remain effective as the league gets more of a look at him and his stuff.

Warren has had a good spring so far, and his stuff looks good. Warren taking the next step would be a huge deal for the Yankees. He made 32 starts in 2025, but struggled against some of the better teams in baseball, including the Dodgers and Blue Jays. Weathers has good stuff, but locating his pitches needs work. This is something the Yankees coaches will work with Weathers over time to fix his location issues.

The biggest issue with the rotation breaking camp is Gil. He has had a really poor spring for the Yankees, and there are a lot of concerns around him and his drop in velocity. The Yankees have not yet ruled out starting Gil in Triple-A because of their early-season schedule. It could give Gil some time to work out his issues while not facing big-league hitters.

The real potential of the Yankees will come later in the year with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole returning from injuries. Rodón began throwing to live batters earlier this week in his ramp-up. He is targeting a return in mid-April or early May. Cole, on the other hand, pitched one inning in a spring training game on Wednesday. His fastball velocity was up to 98 MPH, and his curveball looked nice and crisp. Cole is still targeting a late May, early June return as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

If both Rodón and Cole come back healthy with the rest of the rotation clicking, the Yankees rotation could be a force to be reckoned with in the second half of the season.