Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
Michael G. asks: Among the free agents to be, do we re-sign any of them? What do they need to do down the stretch to change your mind?
The Yankees have eight players set to hit free agency after this season: Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, and Amed Rosario among the position
players, David Bednar, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough, and Paul Blackburn from the pitching staff. It’s easiest to start with the extremes, so let’s quickly go over who is a slam-dunk to walk and who is an instant re-sign. Much as he’s been a delight to have up until this season, I think the magic has worn off of Hill’s arm and the team would be better off with a new lefty matchup specialist for next season. While Goldschmidt has had an admirable season stepping up as the first baseman/DH when the team needed him early in the year, this was more of a send-off year for the longtime vet as he was expected to be a bench bat and mentor to Ben Rice more than a significant contributor. And though I’m typically not a fan of giving relievers long-term deals, I have to imagine the Yankees will be interested in keeping their closer around as Bednar has been nails since coming over at last year’s deadline outside of a rough stretch to open this season.
That leaves us with five names with more foggy futures to ponder. Paul Blackburn has similarly been dominant in the bullpen this year, but this run stands out as an outlier from his recent history as he bounced around from the end of his Oakland run into a very poor stretch with the Mets before landing here. I can stand to believe the Yankees have helped him figure out how to best utilize his repertoire and would be interested in seeing him get a full year as a top option, but if he wants to cash in on what has easily been a career-year I both wouldn’t fault him and don’t think the Yankees would end up keeping him in the end. Ryan Yarbrough’s had a fairly quiet year as the long-relief option for New York, and that’s about where you want your long reliever to be — far from a hindrance to the team’s success, but not one of their go-to guys who sees regular use. He was a last-minute addition to the 2025 team and one of their first moves to re-sign last offseason, and I could easily see them going for a third run with Yarbrough, it just wouldn’t move the needle too much if they didn’t.
Then we get to the trio of Grisham, Chisholm, and Rosario. Rosario had a case to make for himself after the first couple months of the season where he supplanted a fair bit of Ryan McMahon’s playing time at third base by hitting the cover off the ball, but his production since June has fallen off of a cliff. Combine that with his poor defense and his platoon split, and it’s likely that Rosario walks, though I wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent. Chisholm has been one of the team’s most important bats since the Yankees traded for him at the 2024 deadline, but this year has been a bit of a nightmare for him as his bat has plunged from above-average to below and he’s been endlessly critiqued for mental mistakes in the field. The walk year and the pressure he put on himself talking about the 50-50 club before the season are likely factors in this becoming a frustrating campaign for Chisholm, but on the flip side it’s likely he isn’t going to get the offers he once envisioned. That means he could return on a one-year prove it deal to reset his market value, and though the Yankees are stocking their options in case he leaves I have to think they’d be interested in that scenario. He isn’t likely to get the qualifying offer though, and Grisham can’t get one after accepting it last season. Grisham’s a curious case — he’s had two extremely cold streaks that contributed to the lineup stalling out as much as it has, but his underlying metrics have remained decent. I think it’d be easiest to just part ways, especially as his defense looks more and more like he shouldn’t man center field for much longer and the team now has Heliot Ramos under contract for next year alongside Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, but it’d be a bittersweet end for a player who broke out in his time in pinstripes.
Don H. asks: Simple question… when will we see George Lombard Jr. as the leadoff hitter in the Yankees’ lineup? Granted, he still has a small sample size, but he’s handled the promotion pressure to the Bronx with unaccustomed aplomb. For me, there is not a better leadoff hitter on this team.
The Yankees have been content to place Lombard at the bottom of the lineup card for most of his big league stint thus far, with a couple of games shifting into the middle of the order early on. Handedness has dictated the structure of Aaron Boone’s lineup for most of his run as manager, and I don’t think the team would be bold enough to shift Lombard into the leadoff batter just yet, but I do think he’s deserving of a shift up — just as much as other parts of the lineup could be shifted down for their inconsistent play. Lombard batted sixth in the lineup in the series finale against Baltimore, and I think that’s a fair spot to keep him in for now. You could easily argue that Ramos deserves to slide down among the top of the order options, but Bellinger’s imminent return should cover that spot and the rest of the team’s options for the top half are fairly entrenched. If he continues to rake as his exposure to the majors expands, then you could look to discuss where Lombard lines up in a potential playoff game, but for now gradually advancing the rookie shortstop’s spot seems to be the smart play.
Jmack175 asks: Stanton is under contract next year for $25 million, with $10 million of that being paid by the Marlins. As I understand it, his buyout of $10 million for 2028 will be covered by the Marlins because their salary relief is unconditional. So Big G is essentially owed $15 million by us next year with his buyout being a net zero for him not to play in 2028. Unless he comes back and rakes the rest of the way and in the post season, do you see the Yankees keeping him on the roster next year or releasing him and eating $15 million? Or do you see them keeping him until the trade deadline and then cutting ties?
I think the Yankees are loathe to allow big contracts to become dead money, as evidenced by how long they took to finally cut bait with DJ LeMahieu’s albatross play in his final season, but I can’t deny that I’ve pondered what the future looks like for Stanton. I don’t think they’d outright release him before next season starts, but I also don’t see where he fits into the lineup anymore with Luis García Jr. and Ben Rice both serving as first basemen and DH options mainly. His bat was electric in the short stint we saw of Stanton last year and he was fine from the month or so we got from him this season, but the health concerns are only continuing to mount. Perhaps that will push the issue down the road, as the team almost assuredly assumes Stanton will miss time again next season and will plug him in when they can. Eventually this is a crossroads the front office will have to make a decision on, but it’s not one they’ll have to make for now.
