After another postseason letdown, the Yankees will focus on rebuilding the bullpen and figuring out how to remake a one-dimensional offense.

Guaranteed Contracts

2027 guarantees: $205.5MM
Total future commitments: $661MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

The 2025 season saw the Yankees win 94 games, defeat the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, and lose to the AL East champion Blue Jays in the ALDS.  2026 was almost a case of deja vu, as this year’s Bronx Bombers won 93 games, again topped Boston in the ALWCS, and then lost to the AL East champion Rays in the ALDS.

The chief difference between the two seasons was Aaron Judge was limited to only 66 games this year.  After suffering a stress fracture in his right ribcage on April 26, Judge initially seemed fine playing through the pain, but he had only a .528 OPS over his last 51 plate appearances before he was finally placed on the 10-day injured list on June 2.  Judge didn’t return until September 8, and he then delivered only a .513 OPS in 24 PA over seven games before sustaining a right calf strain.  This final injury sidelined Judge for the rest of the regular season and the entire postseason.

Even with these two cold stretches, Judge still hit .241/.360/.511 with 18 homers over 285 total PA, and his 140 wRC+ ranked 13th in baseball among players with at least 250 trips to the plate.  The glass half-full view is simple — if Judge had been healthy, maybe that alone might’ve been enough to get the Yankees though a watered-down American League and at least back to the World Series.

The more pessimistic view of the 2026 campaign is also straight-forward.  Judge’s absence exposed the faults in the team’s lineup, as New York’s offense vanished almost the moment Judge hit the IL.  The Yankees’ 116 team wRC+ ranked second in the league through May 31, but from June 1 until season’s end, only five teams produced less than New York’s 93 wRC+.


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