{"id":336507,"date":"2025-12-08T07:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T07:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/336507\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T07:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T07:19:07","slug":"yankees-notes-bellinger-williams-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/336507\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Notes: Bellinger, Williams, Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke to reporters on Sunday, offering updates on a few key free agents and discussing plans for the 2026 lineup. Free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger<\/a> continues to be a popular topic of conversation, and Cashman reiterated that the team wants him back next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cCody Bellinger would be a great fit for us,\u201d Cashman said (h\/t Bryan Hoch of MLB.com<\/a>). \u201cI think he\u2019d be a great fit for anybody. I think he\u2019s a very talented player that can play multiple positions at a high level, and hits lefties, hits righties. He\u2019s a contact guy, and I think our environment was a great one for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bellinger has been linked to the Yankees all offseason. A report<\/a> from Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggested the club views fellow free agent Kyle Tucker<\/a> as a backup plan if they can\u2019t retain Bellinger. For what it\u2019s worth, Cashman said Tucker hasn\u2019t visited the Yankees\u2019 complex in Tampa (relayed by Hoch<\/a>). The former Cub recently stopped by the Blue Jays\u2019 facility in Dunedin.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Bellinger opted out of his contract in early November, hitting the open market after a strong first season in the Bronx. He slashed .272\/.334\/.480 with 29 home runs and 13 stolen bases this past year. Bellinger had one year and $25MM remaining on his deal. Given the widespread interest in his services, he should land a much more lucrative pact.<\/p>\n

Bringing back Bellinger might exacerbate a lineup configuration issue addressed by Cashman. The roster skews left-handed at the moment. \u201cThat is a problem,\u201d Cashman said (h\/t Greg Joyce of the New York Post<\/a>). Cashman added that the team wouldn\u2019t make a trade just to get a right-handed hitter if they aren\u2019t better than the lefty currently in place.<\/p>\n

Aaron Judge<\/a> and Giancarlo Stanton<\/a> are the only righties slated for regular at-bats next season. The club\u2019s shortstop will likely also be a righty, with Jose Caballero<\/a> handling the position until Anthony Volpe<\/a> is available. After that, it\u2019s a bunch of lefties, with a couple switch-hitters mixed in. The righty\/lefty mix might be more of a pressing issue if New York struggled against lefties last season, but that wasn\u2019t the case. The Yankees led the league in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching in 2025. They tied the Dodgers for the most home runs off southpaws.<\/p>\n

If Cashman is set on rebalancing the lineup, a certain right-handed infield prospect comes to mind. George Lombard Jr.<\/a>, the team\u2019s top prospect, seems to be on the verge of making an impact at the MLB level. Cashman threw cold water on the possibility of Lombard being involved right away, though. \u201cHe could play defense in the big leagues right now, but he\u2019s still developing on the hitting side. Exciting, high ceiling talent. But I don\u2019t think he\u2019s ready yet.\u201d (h\/t to Hoch<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The stance is in line with Cashman\u2019s previous comments<\/a> on Lombard\u2019s trajectory. The 2023 first-rounder hit just .215 at Double-A last year, though he was only in his age-20 season. Lombard torched High-A pitching earlier in the year, earning the bump to Somerset. His strikeout rate jumped considerably with the Patriots, exceeding 25% for the first time as a professional. Lombard did manage 24 steals, while chipping in eight home runs. He\u2019s a good bet to repeat Double-A to open next season. A strong performance could force the Yankees\u2019 hand, especially if the Caballero\/Volpe combo falters.<\/p>\n

While Bellinger might rejoin the team, another reunion fell flat, apparently without an attempt. Cashman said the Yankees never made an offer to free agent reliever Devin Williams<\/a> (h\/t to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic<\/a>). Williams and his former team were said to have mutual interest in a return, but he ultimately went to the cross-town rival Mets on a three-year, $51MM deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Williams came to the Yankees in a December 2024 trade with the Brewers. He lost the closer role a month into the season and needed an injury to Luke Weaver<\/a> to get back in the mix for saves. He pitched well for a couple of months, but the Yankees went out and acquired David Bednar<\/a> at the trade deadline. Bednar took over as closer upon arrival, moving Williams to a setup role. The presence of Bednar and fellow trade deadline acquisition Camilo Doval<\/a> could\u2019ve hindered the Yankees in attracting Williams, who said it \u201cdepends on the scenario\u201d regarding whether being the closer would impact his free agency decision. The Mets had an obvious opening with Edwin Diaz<\/a> opting out and hitting free agency.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke to reporters on Sunday, offering updates on a few key free agents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[4711,4715,169750,10006,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-336507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-cody-bellinger","9":"tag-devin-williams","10":"tag-george-lombard-jr","11":"tag-kyle-tucker","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}