What Kind of Team the Yankees Are Trying to Be in 2026

There's a glass-half-full look at the New York Yankees running it back — the most used phrase of the off-season. It's true that, outside of Gerrit Cole and the emergence of Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez, the team will largely be the same. Still, continuity is not something the New York Yankees have had since Aaron Judge won his first of three MVP awards in 2022.

2022 wasn't that long ago, and the lineup around Judge is already much different from what it will be this year. Manning the infield this season is Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jose Caballero — with Anthony Volpe lurking — and Ryan McMahon. With Judge in the outfield, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham will be there with him.

For that 2022 campaign, the Yankees rolled out an infield of Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Josh Donaldson. The outfield featured Judge, Harrison Bader, and Joey Gallo, who had some time out in left before being traded.

Oct 23, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson (28) reacts after striking out in the third inning against the Houston Astros during game four of the ALCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Even that 2024 team is much different than the current incarnation of Bombers. Rizzo was on his last legs. Gleyber Torres was in his final year in New York. Anthony Volpe had his best season in the majors as far as defense is concerned, and third base was a revolving door until they traded for Jazz Chisholm.

Judge played next to Juan Soto, arguably his best teammate of everybody mentioned here. Then there was the excruciating Alex Verdugo experiment — arguably his worst teammate of everybody mentioned here.

The roster turnover hasn't worked. That much is clear. They haven't had continuity in years, and that much turnover year after year isn't sustainable. Running it back could be the answer they’re looking for.

Too Many Extremes

Of course, there's another way of looking at it. This way isn't glass-half-full.

If the Yankees fail to win a championship under Judge during his generational prime, it won't be because they ran it back, but rather because of the extremes the front office took with their roster construction. They either blew it up, abruptly casting off staples of the organization like Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela in the middle of Spring Training, or simply ignored the free agent market altogether as they did this year, only making small moves, with one of the few new names heading into camp being a lesser-known reliever in Cade Winquest.

Those 90s Yankees had continuity, but they were always adding. That 1999 team was similar to the 1998 one, but when the opportunity to improve the team was there, they took it. Sending David Wells to Toronto for Roger Clemens was controversial. Still, Clemens helped lead the Yankees to two World Series wins. He helped them get to another in 2003, with the guy he was initially traded for, Wells, pitching right behind him.

The Market They Ignored

The problem with this current team isn't the talent. They won 94 games this year and are likely to win more or around that in 2026. Most teams would sign up for that. The issue is that they didn't make improvements to their biggest hole, which was the bullpen.

Devin Williams and Luke Weaver may be an addition by subtraction, but there were plenty of options for them on the market. They didn't have to splurge on Edwin Diaz, because paying relievers big money has bit them in the past, but names such as Raisel Iglesias and Pete Fairbanks were right there for them. Neither signed mega deals.

Sep 30, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone (17) takes out New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver (30) during the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Even Justin Verlander could have been a decent addition to get them through the start of the season. After Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon returned, the Yankees would have leaned on him less, but, for a team that saw how important winning every game was after having the same record as the Blue Jays in the American League East, then losing because of a tiebreaker, Verlander could have been good for an extra win or two in these early months.

It made little sense for them to just stand pat on the market outside of bringing back Bellinger. It was just another extreme that the front office employed, after years of employing another one, which was frequent roster turnover.

The story of the run-it-back era Yankees is yet to be written, and right now, the front office is hoping to bring back that championship to New York, which has eluded them since 2009.

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