Who could surprise us? The under-the-radar free agents the Yankees should target
The New York Yankees have a very clear top priority this winter. Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman need to find a way to re-sign superstar outfielder Juan Soto, no matter how expensive the price tag is. With that being said, re-signing Soto would handicap the Yankees payroll tremendously for the rest of the offseason.
Luckily for the Yankees, this offseason's free agency class is loaded with talent from the top to the bottom. So if the Yankees miss out on Alex Bregman, Blake Snell or Pete Alonso, they'll have great backup options available for much cheaper.
This will become very important if the Yankees re-sign Soto. If Soto signs for $650 million, New York will quickly need to pivot to multiple under the radar free agents to finish filling out their roster.
Who are the three surprise free agents the Yankees could sign to shock the baseball world?
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3. RHP Blake Treinen
The Yankees need to add some bullpen help. It doesn't matter the age, handedness or throwing motion of the pitcher. They just need to add quality arms to the back end of their bullpen and they need to do it quickly and cost effectively. The Yankees are watching a plethora of different bullpen arms head to free agency, led by their 2024 closer Clay Holmes, and they don't have much help coming through the farm system.
What better place to steal a player than from the team that just beat the Yankees in the World Series?
Los Angeles Dodgers closer Blake Treinen is an unrestricted free agent after posting one of the more impressive years of his career in 2024. Treinen wasn't the closer for a majority of the season, but when the games mattered the most in the postseason, he got the ball in the ninth inning.
Treinen is 36 years old and he'll be 37 years old by the time the 2025 postseason comes around, but age hasn't caught up to him yet. The Yankees could leverage his age to sign him to a one- or two-year contract that locks him as the team's closer for 2025 and potentially 2026.
2. RHP Kyle Finnegan
As stated above, the Yankees need to look to add bullpen help. But when looking at the free agent market, it's the closers like Tanner Scott and Carlos Estevez that jump off the page. Even pitchers like Jeff Hoffman and a few other names would sound great to Yankees fans. But what if I told you that the Washington Nationals didn't tender a contract to their All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan, effectively making him a free agent?
That's exactly what happened. In a shocking turn of events, the Nationals, who are trying to buy and win in 2025, didn't tender a contract to their impressive and valuable closer. Instead of trading him for a haul of prospects during the season on later this winter, Washington just let him walk.
Now the Yankees have the chance to pick up a pitcher that's coming off a 38 save season for a struggling Nationals team. Now, he has the opportunity to sign a one or two year contract with the Yankees, either as the closer or in a setup role. I would assume Finnegan would fit better in a setup role with an arm like Treinen closing the games.
1. RHP Walker Buehler
The last one on this list should come as a surprise to just about everybody for a few different reasons. It's Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler. Let me explain.
The doubts here are understandable. There's a lot that would get in the way of this signing ever happening. Buehler has voiced his readiness to return to the Dodgers and why wouldn't he? He was on the best team on earth and won a World Series to cap off 2024. The Yankees have a five-man rotation at this point, albeit they could improve two or three of these pitchers very easily.
But, MLB Network's Jon Morosi has confirmed that the Yankees and Buehler have mutual interest in a contract this winter.
And if there's interest from both sides, there has to be reasons why.
Obviously, playing for the Yankees means something to just about everybody. Buehler understands this aspect too. And who's to say the Dodgers are eager to bring him back? They'll have a rotation with Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, and Dustin May to begin 2025. This doesn't account for the promising top prospects or the fact they're interested in acquiring a top free agent arm too.
And if the Dodgers may not want Buehler back, heading to the Bronx, as long as they re-sign Soto, would put Buehler in one of the best positions to win a World Series while getting paid and being a key piece to the team.
It makes more sense than the surface indicates.