The New York Yankees have made significant moves since losing free-agent slugger Juan Soto, but they are not done yet.
Hours after officially announcing that they had signed Max Fried, the Yankees completed a trade to bring in former MVP Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs.
That came just days after they upgraded their bullpen by adding closer Devin Williams in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Yankees plans for 2025 keep evolving with each move, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand wrote. The speculation is that Bellinger will play center field to allow Aaron Judge to go back to right field.
That leaves the Yankees with a hole at first base. Bellinger comes with a $27.5 million salary, and the Yankees will likely look for a lower ticket price on a first baseman.
Aging veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana now seem much more likely than Christian Walker and Pete Alonso now. Goldschmidt is coming off the worst year of his career and likely looking for a bounce-back contract.
“By adding Bellinger’s $27.5 million salary in 2025 (of which the Cubs will cover $2.5 million), the Yankees might look at lower-cost alternatives than Christian Walker or Pete Alonso, with other first basemen including Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt among their potential free-agent targets. Cleveland's Josh Naylor and Texas’ Nathaniel Lowe are also potential trade targets at first base. Ben Rice, who played 50 games for the Yankees in 2024, is an in-house option at the position,” Feinsand wrote.
The Yankees have Jazz Chisolm to play third or second base, but they need to find a player to fill in the other spot.
Feinsand suggests that Alex Bregman is still an interesting free-agent option for the Yankees, but is expected to come with a $200 million price tag.
Nolan Arenado is still an option as well as a trade target. Arenado has agreed to move to first base in the right situation, but the Yankees are not on his pre-approved trade list.
More MLB: Yankees slugger had perfect response to losing $765 million slugger
