This winter has been a fairly boring one for the New York Yankees. Each big move has been a re-signing, and all trades have been minor. In fact, the roster looks eerily similar to last year’s squad, especially with Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and potentially Paul Goldschmidt returning for 2026. In hindsight, it was clear from the beginning that the Yankees were not all-in on the big free agents like Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, and Bo Bichette.
The Yankees Must Acquire More Pitching
However, one area of the roster that still needs significant attention is the pitching staff. In particular, the bullpen could use some serious help; New York’s starting rotation is a strong point, but with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt all starting the season on the injured list, the Yankees might want to considering bringing in a mix of starting/relief pitchers to plug their weaknesses that held them back from winning the AL East last season.
Trade Season
Though it was really saying the quiet part out loud, general manager Brian Cashman stated this month that the Yankees are going to spend more of their time and energy on the trade market, rather than continue to browse through the free agent pool. There have been rumors linking New York to Tarik Skubal, but the Yankees should really focus on improving their roster for this season without getting rid of the few top prospects they have left.
Candidates
Though Skubal is the clear cream of the crop and Freddy Peralta has already been shipped off to Queens, there are still plenty of pitchers on the market who the Yankees don’t have to give up a huge haul for. One of those names is Sandy Alcantara, who has sadly not looked like the same pitcher who won the 2022 NL Cy Young. Alcantara missed the entire 2024 season to recover from Tommy John surgery.
However, despite his 4.73 ERA over his past two seasons, Alcantara still ate up 359 1/3 innings, and inning-eaters are a kind of pitcher the Yankees desperately need. Plus, the Miami Marlins are not looking to be very competitive, so moving their ace (who will hit free agency after next season) doesn’t sound too absurd.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post posted on X that the Boston Red Sox could potentially deal Lucas Giolito, with “many teams” showing interest in the 31-year-old starter after a strong bounce-back campaign in 2025. Rare as trades between the Yankees and Red Sox are, New York shouldn’t waste the opportunity to bolster their starting pitching depth. As they learned last year, and even to begin this year, teams can never have enough starters.
Bulk Up The Bullpen
Though starting pitchers are always a good target, the Yankees should really be going after bullpen arms. Their bullpen was one of the worst in the American League in 2025, and they’ve only gotten worse after losing Luke Weaver and Devin Williams. The number of high-quality relievers has decreased drastically over the past month, so if the Yankees want to improve their bullpen, they’ll have to search far and wide across the league. The bullpen that they currently have is not good enough for them to compete in the AL East, so they’d better figure out a plan for the ‘pen soon, otherwise they’ll risk wasting another year of Aaron Judge’s prime.
Main Photo Credits: David Reginek-Imagn Images