Three months after falling short in the World Series, the Yankees knew standing still wasn’t an option. The front office had to make changes, and they did. On Friday, Brian Cashman took the opportunity to discuss the roster overhaul and how the team addressed key areas of weakness.
Defense needed fixing
While losing Juan Soto to the Mets was a significant blow, the Yankees bolstered their roster with notable additions: Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams, and Max Fried. Cashman acknowledged the sting of Soto’s departure but remained focused on the team’s overall improvements.
“It’s different,” Cashman said. “On paper, maybe more improved defensively, more athletic, more balanced on offense. More strikeouts coming out of the bullpen. Deeper rotation. All those things are positives. The negative? We lost a generational talent in Juan Soto. How do you overcome that?”
Cashman didn’t hold back when asked about the Yankees’ defense last season.
“I thought we were bad defensively,” he said bluntly. Advanced metrics didn’t see it that way, but Cashman disagreed.
“We tried to deal with it… As the season plays out, you try to improve where you can. Our work product got us to the World Series, but it didn’t win us the World Series. Hopefully, this version allows us to get further.”
The Yankees saw clear weaknesses last season and attacked them. Cashman believes this revamped roster will prevent more runs and make a real difference.
“Defensively, we were challenged in a lot of positions last year,” he said. “I think some of the additions we made will significantly improve our run prevention with superior defense compared to where we were in previous years.”
Betting on young talent
The Yankees are relying on young players to take a step forward in 2025. Jasson Domínguez, Austin Wells, and J.C. Escarra are among those with a chance to make a significant impact.
“Ultimately, there’s a lane for Jasson Domínguez to take,” Cashman said. “We know he’s got the talent to take it. He missed a big chunk of last year recovering from Tommy John and had a setback that pushed his season back further. It’s good to get him back up and running. We think he can help us, and he’s got an opportunity to prove he can.”
The Yankees also made a tough decision by trading José Treviño, putting their faith in young catchers.
“We made a tough decision,” Cashman said. “He was our frontline guy and a security blanket, but we have a good stable of guys, even though they’re inexperienced. It was about robbing Peter to pay Paul. There’s risk, but we felt the rewards outweigh it.”
DJ LeMahieu’s uncertain role
Injuries derailed DJ LeMahieu’s season, limiting him to just 67 games. His production suffered, and now his role is up in the air.
“He’ll be given an opportunity,” Cashman said. “Hopefully, we see a different version of DJ this spring. The biggest thing we haven’t seen is a fully healthy DJ. We’ll see where it plays out.”
Second and third base remain unresolved heading into camp. Cashman acknowledged it’s rare for a team to have every position locked in before spring training.
“Hopefully, all that can be thrown out the door and we see a different version of DJ this spring,” Cashman said. “The one thing we haven’t been in position to see is a DJ that’s a healthy version. We’ll see how it plays out.”
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