3 more Yankees who won't be back after Gleyber Torres departs

Despite coming off a World Series appearance, there was reason to believe that the 2025 New York Yankees roster will have a new look. With how the offseason has played out, that's going to be the case.

Juan Soto was the first player to depart, inking a deal with the crosstown rival New York Mets, and others have followed. Clay Holmes, Nestor Cortes, and Jose Trevino have all found new homes either in free agency or via trade, and now, Gleyber Torres has his new team as well. He has signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Despite their need for another infielder, it was never likely that the Yankees were going to bring Torres back. While he is an above-average second baseman offensively, Torres' defense and base running left a lot to be desired, and it felt like a fresh start was for the best for both parties.

The list of 2024 Yankees who have departed is long, and will only get longer once these three players find new homes for the 2025 season.

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3. A Marcus Stroman trade makes sense for all involved

Marcus Stroman signed a two-year deal worth $37 million to join the Yankees last offseason with the expectation that he'd be a reliable cog in the middle of their rotation. He proved to be anything but reliable in his first year in the Bronx.

Stroman was able to make 30 appearances and 29 starts for New York, but he had a 4.31 ERA, a 4.62 FIP, and a career-worst 16.7 percent strikeout rate. He was a fine back-end starter, but was expected to be more than that. Stroman did not throw a single postseason pitch for the Yankees.

By signing Max Fried, the Yankees had seven MLB-caliber starters. Trading Nestor Cortes bumped that total down to six, but the Yankees still don't need to run with a six-man rotation. With how valuable starting pitching is, there absolutely will be a team out there willing to take a chance on Stroman who has a solid track record. Trading him to a team in need of a starter and replacing his roster spot with a better fit makes too much sense.

2. The Yankees have already replaced Alex Verdugo

Despite performing like one of the worst starting position players in the sport for much of the season, Alex Verdugo appeared in 149 of the 162 regular season games and played every inning of the postseason. To his credit, Verdugo did have a couple of huge hits in October, but also had a .622 OPS in the postseason while making a memorable fielding blunder as well.

Fortunately for Yankees fans who were sick of Verdugo by the time the season ended, his spot on the roster has been replaced. They did lose Soto, but replaced his spot on the roster with Cody Bellinger who is expected to be the team's starting center fielder. Aaron Judge is slated to move back to right field, and now is the time for Jasson Dominguez to get his shot as the team's left fielder.

The Yankees could conceivably bring Verdugo back to fill a bench spot, but they already have Trent Grisham on the roster. Chances are, they won't want two of their four bench spots being filled by left-handed hitting outfielders with little offensive upside.

1. It's only a matter of time before Anthony Rizzo picks his new team

Speaking of Yankees who have been replaced, Anthony Rizzo's spot was taken by Paul Goldschmidt when he signed a one-year deal to come to the Bronx. While we can quibble about whether Goldschmidt was the right player to bring in or not, he certainly is an upgrade over Rizzo who is nowhere near the star he once was.

Rizzo slashed .228/.301/.335 with only eight home runs in 92 regular season games, and while he did hit for a respectable .267 average in the postseason, he had just one extra-base hit (a double) in October. Rizzo hasn't hit a home run since mid-June. He has just three home runs since the end of April.

Even if Goldschmidt is nothing more than a league-average hitter and defender at this point, he'd be an upgrade over Rizzo. Goldschmidt's durability can't be ignored either. Rizzo was a good Yankee for much of his time in the Bronx, but with how this season went and with Goldschmidt in the mix, Rizzo is as good as gone.