3 Yankees free agents pricing their way out of the Bronx this postseason

The New York Yankees have made it to the World Series for the first time since 2009. They made their way to the postseason with the AL East division title and a first round bye because of their superstars, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Both stars were seen as candidates for the 2024 AL MVP, which is almost certainly set to go to Judge at the end of the season.

But during the postseason, Judge has struggled tremendously. The rest of the roster, including some upcoming free agents, have picked him up, leading to the Yankees beating the Cleveland Guardians and landing in the World Series.

But, these players are playing so well that they might be effectively pricing themselves out of the Bronx in 2025. It's going to be nearly impossible for the Yankees to retain Juan Soto and also bring back the other free agents that are making this World Series run possible.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

3. LHP Tim Hill

One of the best pickups for the Yankees this year was also one of the most under the radar pick ups for the Yankees. I'm not talking about Mark Leiter or Jazz Chisholm. I'm talking about left handed reliveer, Tim Hill, who's been excellent with the Yankees this year after being a below average pitcher for the length of his professional career.

Hill had a 5.87 ERA in 23 innings with the Chicago White Sox before he landed with the Yankees. With New York, Hill is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 0.4 HR/9 across 44 innings. He's truly been dominant as a lefty specialist in Aaron Boone's bullpen.

In the postseason, Hill has tossed seven innings for Boone, allowing six hits and one earned run. He's been one of the better lefties in the Yankees dugout while also pricing himself much higher than his value was when the Yankees picked him up.

Hill made just under $2 million this year and by the time the White Sox got rid of him, he seemed to be the kind of pitcher that would sign for the league minimum in 2025. But given this level of play, there's going to be a team that's willing to pay Hill in the $4 million to $7 million range per season, which could be more than New York is willing to offer him.

2. RHP Tommy Kahnle

Heading into the postseason, it seemed as though the Yankees had a decent, not great, bullpen on their hands, which included the changeup heavy Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle was attached to a two year, $11.5 million contract that he signed after the 2022 season. When Kahnle signed this contract, he was seen as a good reliever, but not a great reliever.

In 2024, he had one of his best regular seasons yet. He posted a 2.11 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP while allowing 6.3 hits per nine innings and striking out nearly 10 hitters per nine innings. His production has been consistent and dominant this year.

But his dominance has continued long after the regular season, as Kahnle has tossed 7.2 scoreless postseason innings this October. He's been one of the best bullpen arms for the Yankees, despite a high walk rate, while only using one pitch: his changeup. Kahnle's changeup is such a good pitch that he's thrown it over 50 times in a row this October. The hitters all know it's coming, yet they can't do anything about it.

But his play might be so good that his contract in free agency may be in the $7 million or $8 million range per season, which could run him out of the Yankees' price range.

1. 2B Gleyber Torres

When the regular season ended, it seemed as though the Yankees would likely be perfectly okay with letting their starting second baseman, Gleyber Torres, walk in free agency. He put up a very pedestrian offensive campaign while being one of the worst statistical infield defenders in the league. On the season, Torres slashed .257/.330/.378, accounting for the second worst single season OPS+ of his career.

New York had the option of letting him walk, moving Jazz Chisholm to second base and signing a star third baseman in free agency.

But Torres has completely turned his play up in the postseason. He's slashing .289/.389/.422 with more walks than strikeouts. Torres has been the ideal leadoff hitter for Boone's squad, setting the table for Soto and Judge better than anybody could have predicted.

At this point, it's hard to imagine that the Yankees won't aggressively try to bring him back this offseason, but he might be pricing himself out of the Bronx. It's not like New York doesn't have money to spend in free agency, but with them looking to secure Soto for the next decade or so, they could commit too much money to Soto and run out for Torres, especially as his price tag goes up with this great postseason play.

In a dream world, the Yankees can sign Torres back, but if he continues trending this way, New York might not be able to pay him as much as another team after re-signing Soto.