If I had a dollar for every angry caller flooding sports talk radio screaming about Yankees GM Brian Cashman “sleeping at the wheel,” I could have probably funded the Cody Bellinger extension myself. The narrative around the Bronx right now is toxic. Fans look at the projected 2026 lineup, see the same names that got bounced by the Blue Jays last October, and immediately reach for the panic button.
They see a team that “did nothing” to improve, claiming the front office is content with mediocrity. But here is the cold, hard truth that nobody wants to admit while they’re venting on Twitter: this roster was the best offense in baseball last year, and it wasn’t particularly close.
We have a collective case of amnesia because of how ugly the ALDS exit was. We watched the bats go cold against Toronto and decided the whole thing was broken. It wasn’t.
In 2025, the New York Yankees posted a 119 wRC+ as a team. That means their lineup was 19% better than the league average. The next closest team was sitting at 113. That is a massive gap in a sport defined by razor-thin margins. They mashed 274 home runs, leading the majors and bludgeoning teams into submission for six months. Blowing that up because of a bad week in October isn’t bold; it’s stupid.
The “New” Faces Are Already Here
People are acting like the team is stagnant, but they are ignoring the internal upgrades that are staring them in the face. We get a full season of Ryan McMahon at third base, which finally stabilizes a corner infield spot that was a revolving door of mediocrity for years. His glove alone saves runs, and his left-handed pop plays perfectly in the Stadium.
Then you have the kids. Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones are locked in a cage match for the fourth outfield job, and one of them could be used as trade bait. That competition alone injects more upside into this lineup than any washed-up veteran free agent ever could. You aren’t just running it back; you are running it back with elite prospects/young talent who are hungry to make an impact.
The Pitching Is the Only Real Question Mark
Okay, let’s talk about the arm in the room. The pitching staff is risky, I’ll give you that. Starting the year with Gerrit Cole rehabbing and Carlos Rodón recovering from elbow surgery to remove a bone chip is terrifying. It feels like walking a tightrope without a net. But if—and it’s a big if—they get healthy, the ceiling is still sky-high. We also get to see what Cam Schlittler can do with a full workload, which is an exciting wild card.
Does Cashman need to go out and get one more reliable starter? absolutely. The depth is thin, and relying on health is a fool’s errand in the Bronx. But let’s stop pretending the sky is falling because the Yankees didn’t overhaul a roster that won 90+ games. The Blue Jays, the team that beat us, just lost Bo Bichette. We kept our core intact. The fear isn’t real.
The Yankees are fine. They will have a top-five offense, and that gives them a high floor. They need more pitching, and that’s likely the focus for Cashman over the next few weeks.