THE New York Yankees put in a valiant effort to make the playoffs and compete for a World Series. Ultimately, they came up short against the Los Angeles Dodgers, losing the series to Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani.

Now that we’re heading into the offseason, officially, the Yankees front office can fully turn its attention to priority number one: re-signing superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

While I believe Soto will remain a Yankee, his return to the Bronx will have lasting effects on the remainder of free agency. While Soto is set to sign a deal worth over $500 million, other free agents won’t be brought back to New York in 2025.

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While the Yankees and Aaron Boone have been big fans of Alex Verdugo all season long, the outfield of the future in New York is Jasson Dominguez, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, if all goes according to plan. Dominguez has struggled to find consistent playing time and that has everything to do with Verdugo being in front of him, but that shouldn’t last much longer.

Verdugo, 28, struggled mightily in 2024. He slashed .233/.291/.356, posting an OPS+ below 100 for the first time since his age-22 season. He has steadily declined over the past few seasons and the Yankees can’t afford to bring him back for the price another team would be willing to give him.

Dominguez, on the other hand, has all the tools to become a superstar of the game. He is a hitter with raw power that wows scouts. He hasn’t yet managed to establish himself in the big leagues, but he is still young and growing. 2025 is the perfect time to bring him into the lineup and let him play.

This one is very simple. New York will likely try to bring back Verdugo, but they won’t overpay for him. There are teams in the league that won’t attempt to go after big free agents, so they would be more likely to overpay for Verdugo.

Clay Holmes was one of, if not the best, relievers in baseball for a good majority of the first half of the season. Holmes was dominant on Another World until a few weeks before the All-Star break. And when the wheels fell off for Holmes, they really fell.

On June 9, Holmes picked up his 19th save, lowering his season ERA to 1.23 with only three blown saves. Over the next few months, Holmes would see his ERA increase to 3.32 on September 11th. At that time, Holmes now had 12 missed saves and 29 successful saves on the year. The right-hander would finish the year 30-for-43 on save opportunities. He lost his closest role before the playoffs.

Now, Holmes is about to enter free agency and there’s not a great chance he ends up in the Bronx. The fan base has long turned its back on him, whether you like it or not, and that means something to players in their free agency decisions. Holmes will likely look for a fresh start with a new team, earning a good amount of money while the Yankees will look for improved options for their bullpen. These two are expected to break up this winter.

Earlier in the season, it was pretty clear that the Yankees would go for Anthony Rizzo’s $17 million team option that is attached to his contract. But as time passes and Rizzo has struggled or been injured, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to imagine the Yankees spending nearly $20 million to bring Rizzo back. They could go out and get a much better first baseman, say Christian Walker or Pete Alonso, for around $25-30 million AAV.

Rizzo, 35, slashed .228/.301/.335 and posted an OPS+ below 100 for the second straight season. The veteran isn’t getting any younger either. His performance and health have slowly declined over time and it becomes quite difficult to bet on his availability or good play when healthy.

Ultimately, Brian Cashman’s top priority will be bringing Soto back, whether or not it costs the team more than $600 million. When you’re dealing with a contract this large, the $17 million in Rizzo’s contract would be worth a lot more to Soto in his deal than it would be to Rizzo. Baseball is a business at the end of the day.