The Yankees have been busy checking in on various offseason pursuits, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post, but might also slow-play the market. Heyman says the Yankees have talked to the Rangers about Corey Seager and checked in with free agents Luis Arraez, Brandon Lowe and Carson Kelly. But broadly, Heyman frames it as possible that the Yankees play things cool in the pre-lockout period.
Heyman points out that owner Hal Steinbrenner is a big proponent of a salary cap, which isn’t surprising. Unlike his father, who was always happy to use financial might to push the Yankees ahead, the younger Steinbrenner has often expressed unease with that approach. A couple of years ago, he described the Yankees’ spending as “unsustainable.”
Per the MLBTR Payroll Tracker, the Yankees had a competitive balance tax number of $342MM in 2026. They are projected for $282MM next year, before even making any significant moves. In the ongoing collective bargaining talks, MLB has proposed a cap of $258.2MM. That would start in 2028, though it’s a loose figure, as 2027 league revenues could move the line.
It’s unlikely that a cap will actually be in place, at 2028 or any other time. The MLB Players Association is opposed to a cap and has no intention of agreeing to one. Even if they are eventually persuaded, the actual number would surely change in future proposals.
Time will tell how it all plays out. If Steinbrenner wants to get a sense of the game’s future economic landscape before allowing the front office to make big moves, that would be fairly constraining in the next few weeks. It is expected that a surge of activity will take place before the league locks out the players on December 2. If the Yankees go into wait-and-see mode, they could miss a number of opportunities. General manager Brian Cashman shrugged off the framing, describing his current approach as “business as usual.”
The Yanks have lots of moving pieces on the roster, particularly on the infield, which is why it makes sense that several of the players Heyman mentioned are infielders. Acquiring Seager would come with complications, even though the Rangers are on the lookout for a deal. He has full no-trade protection as a 10-and-5 player. Perhaps he would be willing to join the Yankees but it has been suggested by some that he’s a low-key guy who would actually prefer not to be in the spotlight of a big market like New York.
There are other factors as well. Seager still has five years left on his contract with a $31MM salary, a total of $155MM. That’s a notable sum for a guy who will turn 33 in April and has been fairly injury prone. He has only played more than 123 games in a season once in the past five campaigns. He got into 102 games this year, missing time due to lower back issues and a concussion. After the season was done, he had surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow.
Even in a fairly injury-marred year, he was still productive. He hit 20 home runs and slashed .227/.312/.424 for a 106 wRC+. He mostly received positive grades for his shortstop defense. FanGraphs credited him with 2.1 wins above replacement. The Yankees would still view him as a valuable player but they would presumably ask the Rangers to eat some of the money if they actually pursued a deal, especially if the Rangers wanted some notable prospect capital in return.
Signing Lowe or Arraez would be more straightforward, as they are free agents. They would only cost money, except in Lowe’s case. He received a qualifying offer from the Pirates, so the Yankees would have to forfeit draft picks and international bonus pool space in order to sign him.
Lowe would provide the Yankees with a power bat for the second base position. He just hit 35 home runs this year, his third time getting over the 30 line. His defensive grades also improved dramatically in his first season away from the Rays. FanGraphs credited him with 4.9 WAR. MLBTR predicted him for a three-year deal with a $69MM guarantee.
Arraez is a very different profile, as he has little power but is baseball’s best contact hitter, with very low walk and strikeout rates. He hit only six home runs this year but with a .310 batting average. Like Lowe, his second base defense was greatly improved, leading to a 4.1 fWAR season. MLBTR predicted him for a three-year, $48MM deal.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is now a free agent, which opens up second base in the Bronx. Anthony Volpe and José Caballero are internal options to fill that spot but Lowe and Arraez are more established as valuable big leaguers. Shortstop is theoretically covered by George Lombard Jr., though he has just 42 big league games of experience with fairly unremarkable production. If the Yankees were to acquire Seager, perhaps Lombard would be moved elsewhere or maybe even Seager himself.
Third baseman Ryan McMahon is still under contract but the Yankees might shake things up there. General manager Brian Cashman said this week he’s “open minded” about finding a new plan at third base next year, per Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports MLB. McMahon just hit .213/.279/.357 for a wRC+ of 78 this year with unimpressive defense to boot. He is owed $16MM next year. Given this year’s performance, the Yankees would have to eat some money to move that.
Luis García Jr. could potentially factor in at second base. He had a lot of experience there with the Nationals but got moved to first because his defense wasn’t very good. The Yankees acquired him at the deadline while Giancarlo Stanton was injured. For most games down the stretch, they had García at first and Ben Rice in the designated hitter spot.
It’s unclear how they will play things in 2027. Theoretically, Stanton will be in the mix, as he is signed for one more season. There has been some speculation that the Yankees might just release him but that doesn’t seem to be their plan right now.
“He’s not going anywhere,’’ Cashman said this week, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “He’ll be in spring training without a doubt and hopefully healthy and ready to go. … There’s never been a time when he’s healthy that he’s not been impactful. So, if he’s healthy, I know he can impact. Always has been. So, hopefully, we’ll get a healthy Stanton. He’s a big presence in our clubhouse. A great leader. He’s wired right. He’s doing everything (he) possibly can (to) impact us in a positive way.”
If Stanton is healthy and in the DH spot, then Rice would be at first and García potentially at second. Despite García’s poor history at the keystone, the Yanks might try to make it work. Per Joel Sherman of The New York Post, Cashman said he informed García’s agent that they view him as both a first baseman and a second baseman.
Turning to Kelly, the Yankees have been on the lookout for a righty-hitting catcher for a while now. Austin Wells is their primary backstop and hits lefty. Wells struggled in the first half of 2026, prompting the Yanks to look around for external additions, but they never made a significant move there.
Kelly hits from the right side and could fit. With the Cubs over the past two years, Kelly had passable defensive numbers while hitting .254/.335/.402 for a 109 wRC+. Against lefty pitchers, he had a .284/.363/.478 line and 136 wRC+. MLBTR predicted him for a two-year deal worth $20MM.
The bullpen is also an area the Yanks are sure to be active in. They just lost David Bednar, Paul Blackburn and Tim Hill to free agency. They have interest in bringing Hill back, per Heyman. Old friend Jonathan Loáisiga is also of interest to the Yanks, per Heyman. Both pitchers are ground-ball specialists. Hill had a 4.60 ERA in 2026 while Loáisiga’s ERA was much lower, coming in at 2.42.
Photo courtesy of Dustin Safranek, Imagn Images
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