THE New York Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009. They went to the playoffs with the AL East division title and a first-round bye thanks to their superstars, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Both stars were considered candidates for the 2024 AL MVP, who should almost certainly be named a judge at the end of the season.

But during the playoffs, Judge struggled mightily. The rest of the team, including some upcoming free agents, picked him up, allowing the Yankees to beat the Cleveland Guardians and land in the World Series.

But these players are playing so well that they could actually be out of the Bronx in 2025. It will be nearly impossible for the Yankees to retain Juan Soto and also bring back the other free agents who are in this World Series. possible.

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One of the Yankees’ best pickups this year was also one of the Yankees’ most overlooked pickups. I’m not talking about Mark Leiter or Jazz Chisholm. I’m talking about left-handed reliever, Tim Hill, who has been excellent with the Yankees this year after being a below-average pitcher throughout his professional career.

Hill posted a 5.87 ERA in 23 innings with the Chicago White Sox before landing with the Yankees. With New York, Hill is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 0.4 HR/9 in 44 innings. He’s really been dominant as a left-handed specialist in Aaron Boone’s bullpen.

In the postseason, Hill pitched seven innings for Boone, allowing six hits and one earned run. He has been one of the best lefties in the Yankees dugout, while pricing himself much higher than his value when the Yankees picked him up.

Hill made just under $2 million this year and at the time the White Sox got rid of him, he seemed like the kind of pitcher who would sign for the league minimum in 2025. But given that level of game, there is going to be a team that is willing to pay Hill between $4 million and $7 million per season, which could be more than New York is willing to offer him.

Heading into the postseason, it looked like the Yankees had a decent, but not great, bullpen on their hands that included changeup heavy Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle was attached to a two-year, $11.5 million contract that he signed after the 2022 season. When Kahnle signed that contract, he was considered a good reliever, but not a great reliever.

In 2024, he will have one of his best regular seasons to date. He posted a 2.11 ERA and 1.14 WHIP while allowing 6.3 hits per nine innings and striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings. His production has been consistent and dominant this year.

But his dominance continued long after the regular season, as Kahnle pitched 7.2 scoreless innings in the postseason last October. He was one of the best arms in the Yankees bullpen, despite a high walk rate, while only using one pitch: his changeup. Kahnle’s changeup is so good that he threw it more than 50 times in a row in October. The hitters all know it’s happening, but there’s nothing they can do about it.

But his play could be so good that his contract in free agency could be in the range of $7 or $8 million per season, which could put him out of the Yankees’ price range.

At the end of the regular season, it looked like the Yankees would probably be perfectly fine letting their starting second baseman, Gleyber Torres, enter free agency. He had a very pedestrian offensive campaign while being one of the worst statistical defenders in the league. On the season, Torres slashed .257/.330/.378, representing the second-worst season OPS+ of his career.

New York had the option to let him go, moving Jazz Chisholm to second base and signing a star third baseman in free agency.

But Torres has completely upped his game in the postseason. He’s slashing .289/.389/.422 with more walks than strikeouts. Torres was the ideal leadoff hitter for Boone’s team, setting the table for Soto and Judge better than anyone could have predicted.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees won’t aggressively try to bring him back this offseason, but he could opt out of the Bronx. It’s not like New York doesn’t have money to spend in free agency, but as they look to secure Soto for the next decade, they could commit too much money to Soto and miss out on Torres, even more so as its price increases. with this great play in the playoffs.

In a dream world, the Yankees can bring Torres back, but if he continues in this direction, New York might not be able to pay him as much as another team after re-signing Soto.