The New York Yankees dominated baseball for a majority of last season before storming their way to the American League pennant and a World Series appearance. They did this behind the strong trio of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto.
But during the offseason, Stanton suffered injuries to both his elbows, while Soto opted to sign the biggest contract in baseball history with the New York Mets. With Soto heading across town, the Yankees were forced to pivot to a backup plan in the offseason in order to replace their talented superstar in the aggregate.
The Yankees made a lot of moves. Some of them, like the Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams trades, haven't panned out like they were supposed to yet. But there were a few other moves the Yankees made during the offseason that have already begun to look like brilliant decisions.
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.
Retaining Trent Grisham has proved to be a genius move for the Yankees
Trent Grisham was one of the more controversial players of offseason for the Yankees. He put together a horrible season in 2024, slashing .190/.290/.385 with nine home runs and eight doubles in nearly 100 games. At times, his defense looked a bit lazy, too. Either way, with Soto gone, a lot of people expected Grisham to be gone, too — especially with top prospects like Spencer Jones and Everson Pereira seemingly ready for their call-up to the big leagues.
But the Yankees opted to sign Grisham again, and it's paid off and then some. Grisham has been one of the best bats in Aaron Boone's lineup so far this year, slashing .283/.367/.628 with 12 home runs and an OPS near 1.000. He seems to be well on his way to 20 home runs, potentially threatening 25 or 30 long balls this season.
He's played so well that the Yankees have had no reason to call up Jones or Pereira. His production has been much more than anybody around the game could have expected coming into the season. Bringing Grisham back to the Bronx is looking like one of the ore underrated moves of the offseason.
Signing Max Fried has proved to be very worth the money
One of the first moves made following Soto's decision to sign with the Mets was the Yankees' decision to give Max Fried a massive contract worth over $200 million. This deal was a few years longer and about $100 million richer than most outlets projected him to land; at the time, there were a lot of critics of this signing, but I certainly wasn't one of them.
Fried has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball ever since he debuted in the big leagues. He consistently tosses up full seasons with an ERA right around 3.00. But since joining the Yankees, he's been way better than anybody expected.
Through nine starts with the Bronx Bombers, Fried is 6-0 while being worth a staggering 2.2 WAR. He holds an incredible 1.11 ERA across 56.2 innings. Over that span, Fried has surrendered just 40 hits and issued 13 walks while striking out 52 hitters. His 359 ERA+ leads the league and would rank as the best single-season mark of his career.
This signing has been incredibly important to the Yankees' success, especially considering the loss of Gerrit Cole. Fried's excellent start reflects well on the front office's brilliant decision to sign him.
Signing Paul Goldschmidt might be the steal of the offseason
Of all the moves the Yankees made over the offseason, potentially the most controversial was the decision to replace Anthony Rizzo with Paul Goldschmidt. There were players like Christian Walker and Pete Alonso available in free agency, but the Yankees settled on an affordable one-year deal with the veteran from the St. Louis Cardinals. And it's aged incredibly well.
Alonso was never a realistic option for the Yankees, as it seemed like he was always going to be returning to the Mets. Walker was a very realistic option, but the Yankees lost him to the Houston Astros. On the season, Walker has been mediocre at best while Goldschmidt has been one of the best bats in the entire American League.
At this point in the season, Goldschmidt is slashing .346/.395/.506 with an OPS over .900. It's by far his best season since he took home the NL MVP in 2022. This kind of career resurgence is exactly what the Yankees need with Aaron Judge hitting before or after Goldschmidt. This one-year deal seemed like a cheap move from the front office, but it's aging like fine wine.