The New York Yankees are running it back this season with a very similar squad as last season.
Despite falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS, the Yankees did not make any major changes to their roster this offseason, focusing primarily on bringing back players like Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt. New York spent most of the offseason stuck in neutral before re-signing Bellinger on January 26.
On Sunday, when asked what the offseason was like for him, Yankees superstar Aaron Judge commented on how the team’s approach to the offseason was “touch to watch” early on.
“It was brutal,” Judge said, per SNY on X. “I see a lot of free agents out there. I see a lot of guys like the Bellingers, the Grishams, the Goldschmidts. Let’s sign these guys right now and then start adding more pieces. I’m seeing other teams around the league get better. They’re making trades, they’re signing big prospects or big players and we kind of were sitting there for a while, kind of making smaller moves.
“It was tough there in the beginning, but I think once we solidified getting Bellinger back, we got Trent being our center fielder, being our leadoff guy for another year. You add a guy like Goldy, some of the back-end bullpen pieces that we’ve been doing, I think we’ll be in a good spot. But early on, it was pretty tough to watch. I’m like, ‘man, we’re the New York Yankees’, let’s go out there and get the right people, get the right pieces to go out there and finish this thing off. We’ve got a special group of players here. We’ve got a good core, good young core. It was frustrating, but I think we’re right where we need to be.”
Judge’s comments echo fans’ frustration from this offseason. Despite not being good enough to win it all, the Yankees did not make a big effort to improve, especially early on. New York’s roster will get a boost once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón return from injury, at least.
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