New York

Yankees

West’s homer was his sixth, tying him with Jack O’Dowd for the league lead. The 2025 13th-round pick is hitting .274/.378/.597 in 19 games. He finished at .226/.300/.394 with 20 homers and 20 steals in 124 games in High-A ball last season.

This one won’t be particularly close. Schlittler seems like a near-lock to take home his first Cy Young Award after posting a pristine 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239/49 K/BB ratio across 193 2/3 innings over 33 starts. The 25-year-old rising star will be at the front of New York’s rotation for years to come. Messick put together one of the more impressive rookie campaigns in recent years, but he’s going to finish a distant third in balloting. Cease was the only real challenger to Schlittler in this race, posting an impressive 2.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 239/78 K/BB ratio across 169 innings over 29 starts in his Blue Jays debut.

Luciano was universally regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball with San Francisco just a few years ago. Things didn’t quite pan out in the Bay Area, but he’s managed to land a spot on New York’s 40-man roster heading into the offseason. The 25-year-old split time between second base and left field in the minors this past season, hitting .293/.387/.545 with 27 homers and eight steals in 493 plate appearances between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s an interesting name to watch when spring training finally rolls around.

Ausmus previously managed the Tigers and Angels and has a 386-422 (.478) record in his five seasons. His first season with the Tigers in 2014 was his best season, and the only one in which Ausmus made the playoffs as a manager.

This isn’t a big surprise, but it’s noteworthy to hear it reported so bluntly. The Yankees will need to find replacements both at second base and center field, and the internal options for both, as Castillo reports, are uncertain, so the team may be looking to free agency for both positions.

Both Sabean and Minaya joined the Yankees as advisors to Brian Cashman prior to the 2023 season. Sabean, the Giants’ GM from 1997-2014, had previously worked with the Yankees as a scout and later director of scoring before getting the Giants job. Minaya was previously a GM with the Mets and Expos. Sabean is 70 and Minaya turns 68 in a couple of weeks, so it’s hard to say if either will be eager to pursue other jobs.

Gil has thrown five scoreless innings between the two outings, though he has walked five. It seems like there’s a pretty good chance the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year will be traded this winter after finishing the season in the minors.

Blake’s contract was expiring, and he would have been in considerable demand around the league had he opted to look around. Instead, he’ll remain the Yankees’ pitching coach, a role he’s held since the 2020 season.

In the same press conference, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that he doesn’t anticipate offseason surgery for any Yankees player, which would include Judge. Cashman added that “We feel like we’re in a good place. He can take advantage of the rest of the winter and be ready to go when Spring Training starts.” While it does seem like Judge will be healthy heading into 2027, the bigger question is whether or not the Yankees will utilize the DH spot to take some stress off his body during the season and help him remain healthy for the full season as he gets older.

Boone also didn’t rule out third base as an option either. One of the Yankees’ biggest challenges heading into 2027 is finding a defensive home for Garcia Jr. Ben Rice will likely be the starting first baseman, and the Yankees likely need to keep designated hitter open for Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, especially if they want Judge to remain healthy throughout a full season. That means Garcia needs somewhere else to play. Unfortunately, the Nationals had to move him off of second base because he was such a poor defender, and he has no MLB experience at third base. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the offseason, but Garcia Jr. getting multi-position eligibility back would be great for his fantasy value.