Here's the latest Yankees free agency and trade buzz during the 2025-26 MLB offseason…
Nov. 11, 3:45 p.m.
Historically, the Yankees have been among the highest-spending teams in baseball, but owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman have reiterated multiple times over the past couple of years that having a payroll over $300 million is "simply not sustainable for us, financially," as Cashman put it.
"It wouldn’t be sustainable for the vast majority of ownership [groups], given the luxury tax we have to pay," Cashman said last May. "I’ve been a broken record [on this topic]: I don’t believe I should have a $300 million payroll to win a championship."
So how does that line of thinking impact what the Yankees will do this offseason?
Appearing on "Pinstripe Post," Joel Sherman of the New York Post laid out how he believes the Yankees can thread the needle to retain a key free agent like Cody Bellinger, whom he referred to as "the key to their offseason," while lowering their payroll beneath the $300 million number.
"I think the goal this offseason is to try to get under $300 million, luxury tax money. I think within that they’d like to re-sign Cody Bellinger, add another reliever who can pitch in the final six outs of the game… I think they’d like to find a complementary starting pitcher to help them through some injuries early in the season. I think they’d love to flip J.C. Escarra for a righty version of J.C. Escarra… and I think they’d like to find a complementary right-handed bat, and maybe plus Amed Rosario, who they liked a lot and tried in previous years to get.
"That all told, I think the Yankees would feel, if they got the versions of the players they wanted to, they would feel that’s a 90+ win team, and they’d have a shot to line it up, and that they could do that in the high ($200 millions)."
The Yankees ended last season with a payroll of $323.7 million, for luxury tax purposes. Factoring in projections for arbitration eligible players and other players in their pre-arbitration years who are still under team control, the Yankees currently have a payroll of roughly $244 million.
Can the Yankees fit in a player like Bellinger, who is projected to make somewhere around $27 million per season, and still make other needed moves while staying under the $304 million luxury tax threshold?
If that is indeed the goal, while it does appear possible, there doesn't seem to be a lot of wiggle room.
