With the calendar flipped to 2024, there are suddenly just six weeks left until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
The Yankees have some work left to do before then.
An offseason that began with a bang, in the form of trading for Juan Soto, is still very much incomplete nearly a month later. While that move upped the pressure to go all in in 2024 — in case there wasn’t enough already coming off an 82-80 season, now they only have one guaranteed season with Soto in their lineup — it also cost them one member of their starting rotation (Michael King) and three starting depth options (Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe).
The simple next move would have been to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and while the Yankees put together a strong play to land him, they lost out to the Dodgers.
Now they must determine the next best option to fill the hole in their rotation, which is much less clear-cut.
It was only a year ago that the Yankees did their heavy lifting early in the winter — re-signing Aaron Judge and adding Carlos Rodon — before failing to make any further substantial moves in January.
This time around, after trading for Soto, Alex Verdugo and reliever Victor Gonzalez, they will have to keep adding in the new year unless they want to take a chance on prospects Will Warren or Clayton Beeter being their fifth starter.
Here’s a look at the work the Yankees still need to do before they get to Tampa:
Fill the rotation hole, plus
The top of the remaining free-agent pitching market is now led by Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.
Scott Boras serves as the agent for both left-handers, which could allow them to take their time in driving up the bidding with plenty of teams still hungry for starters.
Montgomery would seem to make more sense for the Yankees over Snell, though the former Yankee is expected to be using Rodon’s six-year, $162 million contract as a comp.
Trying to add to a rotation that has plenty of question marks behind Gerrit Cole, Montgomery’s consistency and steadiness would be valuable for the Yankees.
Beyond Snell and Montgomery, there is Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga, but the free-agent market gets bleaker from there.
The Yankees may well take a flier on another potential bounce-back arm for depth, but they need some certainty to their rotation first.
The Yankees could also look to the trade market for pitching, with Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes and Shane Bieber among the potential candidates to be dealt.
But it is likely to take a steep price to acquire Cease, who has two years of team control left before hitting free agency (unlike Burnes and Bieber, who each have one), and the White Sox may wait until the top free-agent starters have signed to get the biggest haul for their right-hander.
The Yankees have already dealt from their farm this offseason to land Soto and Verdugo; would they have the stomach (or even ability) to further deplete if for Cease?
Bullpen help?
The Yankees could conceivably be set on the bench — as currently constructed, it would be made up by Austin Wells or Jose Trevino, Trent Grisham, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza — and in the bullpen. But adding relief help would not hurt, especially if they are not able to secure a high-end option to fill out their rotation.
The Yankees have thrived at finding unheralded bullpen arms and developing them into useful pieces, so there is a case to be made that they don’t need to pay big money for relievers.
And in adding Gonzalez in a trade from the Dodgers, they have filled the need for a lefty reliever with Wandy Peralta still a free agent.
But further bolstering the bullpen could help shorten games if starters aren’t getting the job done.
Currently, the final two spots in the bullpen would likely come down to Ron Marinaccio, Cody Morris and Nick Ramirez, so there is some room for higher ground.
Finalize coaching staff
The Yankees’ two biggest changes on staff next season are bench coach Brad Ausmus and hitting coach James Rowson.
Aaron Boone said at last month’s winter meetings that assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes will return under Rowson, but the Yankees were still working on figuring out the second assistant.