The New York Yankees have had a season to forget in 2023, and that is putting it kindly. Not much, if anything, has gone right for the Yankees this season. It all started back on June 3 when Aaron Judge got injured with a broken toe. The Yankees were 35-25 after a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles. When Judge came back, the Yankees' record had dropped to 54-49 and has only plummeted ever since.

As recently as August 27, the Yankees were below .500 with a 62-68 record on the season. A late-season surge has brought them back up above .500 with a record of 73-72.

Even this late season has brought turmoil for the Yankees. Recently, they called up one of their many prized prospects, Jasson Dominguez. Dominguez has been a revelation for the Yanks. In eight career MLB games, he recorded eight hits, four of which went for home runs, racked up seven RBIs, and posted a hitting line of .258/.303/.677. But Dominguez tore his UCL on September 9, ending his season and taking out a chunk of the next campaign. It's just the latest in the line of bad-luck injuries these Yankees have suffered over the last couple of seasons.

2023 was a lost season for the Yankees, but that doesn't mean 2024 should be the same. Perhaps a change in manger could get more out of this team. But also, spending up to add players in free agency can't hurt either. The Yankees badly need help just about all across their roster. So these two players would make a lot of sense to go after in free agency.

2. Matt Chapman

The Yankees' hitting stats in 2023 have been full-on abysmal. No team has posted a worse batting average this season than the Yankees' .225 mark. They rank 26th in MLB in on-base percentage with a mark of .302. Only the Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago White Sox have been worse getting on base than them. The Yankees are a little better in the slugging and OPS department however, ranking 21st and 24th in those statistics. The Yankees also rank in the bottom third of the league in RBIs and total bases.

To summarize: the Yankees were an anemic hitting team in 2023.

It would behoove them to go after some bats in the offseason. One of those bats could be Matt Chapman currently of the Toronto Blue Jays. Chapman is best known for his glove, but he has also added plenty of pop to a prolific Blue Jays offense. Chapman has 15 home runs and 50 RBIs this season. Only four Yankees have exceeded that mark this 2023 campaign. Chapman also has hitting lines of .248/.338/.431, marks that top every one of the Yankees' team averages.

The Yankees do already have DJ LeMahieu as their primary third baseman, but pivoting to Matt Chapman would make sense for a variety of reasons. For one, Chapman's glove is superior to almost anybody at the position. Secondly, Chapman is five years younger than LeMahieu. LeMahieu is still a good player, but Chapman would make for a great addition. Making a division rival weaker in the process can't hurt either.

1. Cody Bellinger

Cody Bellinger hit the ground running with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That culminated with him winning the NL MVP award in 2019 when he hit a ridiculous 47 home runs, drove in 115 runs, and even snagged 15 steals all while posting a hitting line of .305/.406/.629. Bellinger finished that season with a WAR of 8.6, according to Baseball-Reference.

The good times did not last with Bellinger in Los Angeles. The team was still having plenty of success, including a World Series title in 2020. But Bellinger's hitting plummeted. After posting a batting average of at least .260 in each of his first three seasons, Bellinger's best batting average in the three seasons in Los Angeles after winning MVP was .239. In 2021, his worst season in Dodger blue, his batting average was a paltry .165. His slugging percentage (.302) that season was less than half of his MVP season's mark (.629).

The Dodgers let him walk in free agency in 2023, as Bellinger eventually signed with the Chicago Cubs. Bellinger has been rejuvenated and found his groove in Wrigley Field. Bellinger's .317 batting average this season is a new career high. He has 25 home runs and 89 RBIs. Only Aaron Judge has more homers for the Yankees this season, and no one has that many RBIs.

The Yankees haven't gotten much of anything from their outfielders sans Judge this season. No Yankee outfielder has a batting average above .250, and only Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Harrison Bader have batting averages of at least .230. Kiner-Falefa is mostly a utility player who can even play catcher. The Yankees waived Bader to save some money after their hopes of the postseason were over.

Bellinger does have a mutual option with the Cubs, but the incoming payday he's about to receive would lead one to think he will test free agency. If he does, the Yankees should be knocking down his doors and offering him a blank check. Bellinger would be a massive upgrade for the Yankees.

The New York Yankees had a down year. They don't typically do down years without making radical changes after them. It's time for some of those changes to come. That starts with opening up their checkbook. The Yankees were one of the worst hitting teams in baseball this year. Adding Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger would remedy that immediately. It'll be worth watching if that's a direction New York takes in free agency.