Don’t look now, but the New York Yankees are getting down to business. If anyone thought for one second that they were going to roll over and quit after losing Juan Soto, you’re wrong. Missing the playoffs in 2023 left a sour taste in the mouths of the front office and Brian Cashman made sure to change that. Yes, he was aggressive in acquiring Soto and with him gone that same approach remains the same.

The Yankees reached the World Series and have every intention of getting back there. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole aren’t getting younger, so their window to win is right now. They’ve made a flurry of moves and have seemingly upgraded all over the diamond. They pivoted and continued to build upon a strength and make their team better all around. That’s actually been the mantra of this winter for the club. They’ve spent the money and very well could spend more. But they’ve almost made trades, with giving up very little to get quality talent. Let’s take a dive.

Signing Max Fried

This is a good team that is building on a position of strength. You can make a case that the Yankees have tremendous depth in their rotation and was their true strength last season too. During the 2024 season, the Yankees had the 11th best ERA among starting pitching. They have a true ace and CY Young talent in Gerrit Cole, AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, a veteran presence in Carlos Rodon, and a tremendous asset in Clarke Schmidt. Let’s also not forget Marcus Stroman, despite not make the postseason roster.

Max Fried joins Gerrit Cole at the top of the @Yankees rotation for one of the league’s best 1-2 punches 🥊 pic.twitter.com/IJaWlPQ79q

— MLB (@MLB) December 17, 2024

They lost the Soto sweepstakes and went out and grabbed starting pitching. The Yankees bolstered their rotation, giving the Yankees one of the better 1-2 punches. Fried has the third best ERA in the league, from 2020-2024 and is a guy that can simply take the ball and give you quality starts. He does allow quite a bit of ground balls, so the infield defense needs to be sharp.

Fried is a dependable player and a player they hope can take them over the top. Eight years is a very long contract, but that’s what you have to do when going out and signing a player you want. They significantly outbid the Red Sox, which actually worked in their favor.

For a rotation that has the arm talent and the depth, adding Fried makes them much more dominant in this regard. Cole and Fried now give the Yankees a chance to win everytime they are on the mound.

Acquiring Devin Williams

Losing Clay Holmes stings, as he’s been a steady presence in the back of the bullpen. Sure, the 13 blown saves in 2024 were not exactly fun to see and he did lose the closer role, but overall he was a very good pitcher. There was no secret that the Yankees wanted to address the bullpen and make changes towards it. They certainly made a change and quite a big one.

Devin Williams, K’ing the Side.

Death by Airbenders. 🛸🛸🛸 pic.twitter.com/w5ZIL2pLbo

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 19, 2024

Landing Devin Williams doesn’t just give them a closer, but one of the best relief pitchers in the sport today. Williams is a strikeout machine and has the second lowest ERA from 2020-2024. It’s not the “why” but the “how” the Yankees managed to land the caliber talent.

The Yankees parted with Nestor Cortes, who was a reliable pitcher at times for the Yankees. With the addition of Fried and the landscape of the Yankees rotation, he simply fell out of favor. So the Yankees gave away a player they weren’t needing anymore for one of the best relief pitchers to help close out games. Sure, Williams is a rental (for now), but this is a great business move by the Yankees front office.

Caleb Durbin is a 24 year old second baseman, who hit .287 with a .887 OPS in the minors in 2024. For the Brewers who have tremendous young talent already, could give them another young player in the fold.

For a player like Devin Williams this is just great business and what feels like the Yankees gave up NOTHING for. And if you think this trade was nothing, just wait until the next move.

They Got a Bat!

Adding to the pitching side of things was tremendous work by the Yankees. However, they need a bat and desperately after losing Soto to the Mets. Well, once again the Yankees made a trade, giving up nothing to land the player AND even got cash out of the deal.

Heading to the Bronx is outfielder Cody Bellinger in exchange for relief pitcher Cody Poteet. The 2019 NL MVP is taking his talents to the Bronx and can hopefully be a spark plug behind Aaron Judge. Bellinger has not been that same player that won the MVP where he had a slash line of .305/.406/.629 with a 1.035 OPS. However, he has shown that that type of player is in there somewhere.

Again, the Yankees gave up virtually nothing. A depth piece in the rotation to land a good talent. Man, must be nice! Bellinger’s last two seasons in Los Angeles went poorly, but he revived himself with the Cubs. His first season saw him set a career high in average (.307) and his OPS was the highest it’s been since his MVP year (.881).

Bellinger was good, but also took a step back this past season. His average dropped and so did his OPS. He was a league average hitter at best and the Cubs needed a quality bat in the lineup. For the Yankees, this is fantastic and it goes beyond what he can do at the plate.

Bellinger can play multiple positions. He can play anywhere in the outfield, while also being able to play first base. The Yankees need a player for both positions, so this is a blessing. Manager Aaron Boone had a conversation with Bellinger, talking about the positions he could play. Bellinger is more than willing to play anywhere that Boone needs him. The response; center field, left field, or first base. In his career, Bellinger has 31 defensive runs saved and 20 outs above average.

This is just a massive win by the Yankees, getting a good quality player for nothing. They needed a bat and got one. Not to mention, he had an opt out and decided to opt in and the Cubs said, “get out”.

He can now follow the foot steps of his father Clay Bellinger, who wore the pinstripes from 1999-2001 and won two championships. Like father like son, Cody is hoping to do the same.

The Yankees Are Clear Winners

No Juan Soto? No problem from the Big Bad Yankees. The Yankees may not have kept the player they gave up a haul for, but they were aggressive. They seemingly have upgraded each area of the game, while giving up very little assets in doing so. They spent money like they should being a big market team and lured Fried to the Bronx.

The AL East is open for the taking and you have to believe the Yankees are the favorites. The winter is not over yet, but the Yankees are winners thus far.