The New York Yankees seem to be out of the sweepstakes for one of the top offensive free agents available. New York entered the offseason needing to improve the outfield. The Yankees responded in a major way by landing Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Trent Grisham in two major trades. Before making the trades, though, the Yankees were the top club linked to former Chicago Cubs star outfielder Cody Bellinger. The 2019 National League Most Valuable Player was linked to the Yankees on numerous occasions, but it sounds like a move is out of the question now. Even after making the major trade for Soto, there still were rumblings that Bellinger could be a possibility for New York. Although that was the case, the Yankees seemingly have been “ruled out” of the Bellinger sweepstakes, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. “I think the favorite right now has to be the Cubs for Bellinger,” Heyman said. “We can rule out the Yankees. The (Toronto Blue Jays) have done some stuff so I still think they could do it possibly. I still think the (San Francisco Giants) could do it possibly. He could help a number of teams. He could help Seattle, he could help the (Los Angeles Angels), he could help the (New York Mets). “But, to me the Cubs haven’t done anything except for the manager. They bring in a new manager, do we really expect them to end up doing nothing? And we know they are looking at offense. That would be the number one play.”
This isn’t too surprising at this point. New York still needs to make a few more impactful moves this offseason if it wants to compete for a World Series title in 2024, but the Yankees seemingly are good in the outfield and need to look elsewhere.