The Athletic | Andrew Marchand: ($) In case you missed it, the YES Network made some major changes to its announcer lineup for 2026. The big headline is the exit of John Flaherty, who will not return after a 20-year run with YES as an announcer and analyst. Part-time analysts Jeff Nelson and Dave Valle also won’t return. The Yankees appear to be trimming down their broadcast team, in an effort to bring more consistency to the booth and to highlight their top analyst talents, who they view as David
Cone, Paul O’Neill, and Joe Girardi. Matt also wrote about the change for us, so check his article out here.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: After an up-and-down 2025 season, it’s anyone’s guess what’s next for Luke Weaver. The right-hander expressed interest in staying with New York before the season ended, but then proceeded to have a disastrous showing in the Yankees’ abbreviated playoff run. Weaver says that he’s enjoyed his time in the Bronx and that he hopes there are still “good discussions to be had” with the Yankees, but both he and the team’s respective situations seem up in the air. The Yankees could go any number of directions to fix a bullpen that struggled last year, while Weaver himself has noted that he’d be open to try starting again if a team gave him the opportunity. As an aside, he’ll get the Yankees Roster Report Card treatment from us today.
MLB.com | Matthew Leach: The Twins have hired Derek Shelton to be their next manager, replacing Rocco Baldelli. Shelton was the manager of the Pirates, for whom he went 306-440 from 2020-25 before being fired in May. Minnesota passed over Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, who had been among four finalists for the job, with Rowson now likely to return to his post with New York — just like third-base coach Luis Rojas, who the Orioles recently declined in favor of Craig Albernaz.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) The biggest question around the Yankees’ offseason pertains to what they’ll do with their outfield, and Kirschner makes the case that they shouldn’t beat around the bush, arguing they should make Kyle Tucker their number-one target. While a reunion with Cody Bellinger seems more likely at least at the outset, the case for Tucker is pretty simple: he’s just better. Though Bellinger has more defensive versatility, Tucker is a flat-out great hitter, his 143 wRC+ the last five seasons the seventh-best in baseball. A quick look at where Tucker lands on that five-year leaderboard provides a good lesson. He’s nestled right between Bryce Harper and Corey Seager, a couple of bats the Yankees arguably should’ve made much stronger pushes to sign when they hit free agency. Will they make Tucker a priority this time around?
