AL East Power Rankings after Yankees land Juan Soto and more
By Curt Bishop
3. New York Yankees
You may be surprised to see that the Yankees are not the favorites in the AL East just yet. That's understandable after they made two big trades to bolster their lineup.
However, even with the need for left-handed bats addressed, there are other areas where the Yankees still need to improve, most notably on the pitching side.
Beyond Cy Young Award winner and ace Gerrit Cole, the starting rotation still leaves a lot to be desired. They'll need to have Carlos Rodon bounce back from an injury-plagued season and become the ace they thought they were getting when they signed him.
They'll also need Nestor Cortes to do the same. He started only 12 games during the regular season. In addition, he posted an uninspiring 4.97 ERA in those 12 starts.
Should the Yankees go big in free agency for Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Blake Snell, or make an attempt to acquire Glasnow, Dylan Cease, or Shane Bieber, they'll likely move up in the power rankings.
For now, New York still has a lot of work to do in order to return to the top of the AL East. But they have made some significant strides.