Yankees news: Stroman holding pattern, international signing, Spencer Jones breakout

The New York Yankees' offseason has skidded to a halt in January, with a flurry of post-Juan Soto signings and trades giving way to several weeks of waiting. We're now just a few days from February, with Spring Training only a couple weeks away, and there are still several important holes to fill on this roster if New York wants to repeat as American League champs (not to mention keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers).

What does Brian Cashman have in store before the start of the season? What can fans hope for over the next few weeks? Let's break it all down with a run through the rumor mill.

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MLB Rumors: Yankees in 'holding pattern' until Marcus Stroman trade

If you're looking for someone to blame for the recent lull in the Yankees' offseason, look no further than right-hander Marcus Stroman. As things stand, New York is bumping right up against the final luxury tax threshold, one that Hal Steinbrenner is clearly loath to cross. So if the Yankees are going to spend more money and add more talent this winter, they're going to shed a bit of money first.

Stroman is the obvious answer: The veteran is due $18 million in 2025, and the team has no plans on including him in its starting rotation. The problem, though, is that Brian Cashman can't find anyone to take him and his contract off his hands, creating what the New York Post's Joel Sherman refers to as a "holding pattern, with the sense that they want to clear as much of Marcus Stroman’s $18 million 2025 obligation as possible to free up dollars to shop elsewhere."

And said holding pattern might continue for longer than fans would like. There's still a glut of veteran pitching on the market, from Max Scherzer to journeymen like Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. All come with similar or fewer question marks than Stroman does, and all can be had for significantly less than $18 million. The Yankees are going to have to wait for things to thin out a bit and hope that someone gets desperate; whether any of their free-agent targets will still be around at that point is a different question.

MLB Rumors: Yankees sign top international prospect Mani Cedeno

New York would've much rather spent their international bonus money this year on landing Roki Sasaki, but once they were out of the running, the team quickly pivoted back to the more traditional amateur market. And they seem to have pivoted well: Over the weekend, the team agreed to a deal with 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Mani Cedeno, whom MLB Pipeline had ranked as the No. 11 player in this year's international class.

The deal reportedly comes with a signing bonus worth $2.5 million, a significant number and a sign of just how high the Yankees are on Cedeno's potential. Of course, scouting teenagers who've yet to play an inning of pro ball is always a crapshoot, and Cedeno will have several years of development ahead of him before he even sniffs the Bronx. But scouts seem to think that he has a good chance of sticking at shortstop long-term, and his impressive frame offers plenty to dream on at the plate as well. New York has amped up its investment in Latin America in recent years, particularly in the Dominican Republic, and Cedeno could be the next product of what's becoming a substantial prospect pipeline.

MLB Rumors: Spencer Jones makes Aaron Judge-like tweak ahead of crucial season

Speaking of prospects: arguably none in the Yankees system faces a more pivotal season in 2025 than Spencer Jones, the slugging outfielder who had everyone dreaming of another Aaron Judge when New York drafted him in the first round out of Vanderbilt back in 2022. But while Jones has indeed flashed enormous power as a pro, he's also hit some bumps in the road, running sky-high strikeout rates as he advances through the Minors.

Jones is about to turn 24, and after an up-and-down first crack at Double-A in 2024, he's facing something of a make-or-break year in 2025, the moment at which he'll either establish himself as a top prospect or raise real doubts about his ability to hit at the big-league level. The good news, though, is that Jones has been in the lab this winter, and his new and improved swing ... well, it looks a whole lot like Judge when you flip him around to the right side.

That is an eerie resemblance. Of course, it doesn't mean anything until Jones puts it into practice, and Judge is a unicorn in terms of his combination of power and ability to control the strike zone. But Jones is a relatively late bloomer, and it's worth noting that he doesn't have the amount of high-level experience that you'd expect from someone his age. There could still be untapped potential here, in other words, and now would be the perfect time to show it.