The ending of the New York Yankees' 2022-23 campaign was an abysmal one for the organization. Injuries plagued them toward the latter part of the postseason, and many of their usual reliables underperformed at the season's biggest stage. With the season behind them, the focus now moves to free agency and how the franchise intends to recuperate from an ALCS sweep to the Houston Astros.
The biggest storyline in baseball is where Aaron Judge will sign his next contract. Judge was offered a contract extension before the start of the year, but he declined it and bet on himself. That turned out to be a brilliant decision for him, so now the dilemma is how much the Yankees are willing to spend on their legendary star.
Everything starts with Judge, but there are still numerous free-agent issues this franchise must address.
One of the best shortstops in the league today, Trea Turner is entering free agency in the next couple of months. His outstanding season with the Los Angeles Dodgers could not come at a better time, as he is one of the best candidates for NL MVP this year.
Turner will fit tremendously in New York because of their glaring hole in SS, along with their lack of contact hitters that do not solely focus on hitting the ball out of the park. The shortstop issue has been percolating in the Bronx, so the fanbase will openly welcome Turner to bat at the top of the order for the Yankees. Manager Aaron Boone could not figure out the top of his order but having Trea Turner on the squad automatically puts him to bat first or second.
Even during the successive wins of the Yankees this season, the closer position was a constant problem for Aaron Boone. Aroldis Chapman is far from his peak self as he even missed the postseason because he was not present in a workout before the beginning of the ALDS. Edwin Diaz is the perfect individual to slot into the closer role for the Yankees because of his immense talent and propelling his performance in higher leverage situations.
Guys like Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes are stellar pitchers, but they are more suited to the setup or middle relief pitchers. With Edwin Diaz driving the ship at the backend of the bullpen, it will boost the confidence of their other bullpen in preparation for the postseason. The hope is for the strikeout rate to become steady if he decides to move to the cross-town rival Yankees.
Why not another Mets pitcher move to the Yankees organization? The constant expectation is for the Yankees to pursue the biggest free agents every offseason, so there is no better athlete to pursue than Jacob deGrom. It has been proven over the past several years that having Gerrit Cole as the only ace is not enough to catapult them to even a World Series appearance.
The excellent performance of guys like Nestor Cortes Jr. and Jameson Taillon was more evident at the earlier juncture of the season, so they will need another arm like Jacob deGrom. He will be slotted into the No. 1 starter because Gerrit Cole has fumbled some key starts so putting him at No. 2 will be an elite one-two punch in baseball.
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