Ranking Yankees' top 10 free agent targets for 2023-24 offseason

Last winter, the Yankees needed to spend big just to keep Aaron Judge in pinstripes. This winter, after missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, they need to go shopping for a big-ticket free agent and at least one significant secondary signing as well.

That’s where they are after going 82-80. They need help, and it can’t just be in the hope of improvement from Anthony Volpe and a full season of Oswald Peraza.

Hal Steinbrenner likely thinks that he’s spent enough already, yet he has no choice but to write more checks if he wants to win a championship in 2024.

Here, we rank the Top 10 list of free agents the Yankees should target, from small upgrades to difference-making stars.

10. REYNALDO LOPEZ

With Michael King moving to the starting rotation, the Yanks could be looking to add to their bullpen. Lopez is something of an under-the-radar FA who has been consistently good the past three seasons and was dominant the second half of ’23.

He has increased his velocity steadily the last couple of years, and averaged 98.39 mph in 2023, his highest such number of his career, at age 29. As a result, Lopez averaged 11.3 Ks per nine, also the highest of his career. He was traded twice and pitched his best for the Cleveland Guardians in September, with 11 scoreless innings in 12 appearances.

9. GIO URSHELA

This likely would be contingent on the Yankees trading Gleyber Torres, which could be a possibility. If so, the Yankees might decide that signing Urshela, who was a productive player for them before being traded to the Minnesota Twins, would be a better fit than bringing back Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Urshela could play a lot of third base, giving the Yankees flexibility with DJ LeMahieu as well as Volpe and Peraza. Urshela hit .299 for the Los Angeles Angels this past season but played only 62 games, breaking a pelvis bone. He’s expected to be ready for spring training.

8. JOC PEDERSON

This could be a fallback if the Yankees don’t get any of the left-handed bats higher on this list. Pederson didn’t have a great season for the Giants, hitting .235 with 15 home runs in 425 plate appearances, but he has mashed right-handed pitching throughout his career, and hitting HRs in Yankee Stadium is a lot easier than hitting them in that big ballpark in San Francisco.

Pederson could potentially be part of a platoon in left field. Last year, versus right-handed pitching, he hit .241 with a .435 slugging percentage and a .786 OPS. For his career against right-handed pitching, he has hit .242 with a .344 on-base percentage, a .490 slugging percentage, and an OPS of .834.

7. TOMMY PHAM

This would be a secondary move that could be a complement to getting a left-handed hitter of more impact. In that context, Pham could be a sneaky-good one-year deal as a right-handed-hitting left fielder coming off a season in which he hit the ball consistently hard.

He hit .256 with 46 extra-base hits and a .446 slugging percentage in 129 games, and his Statcast numbers indicated he’s even been a bit unlucky, considering that he ranked in the 90^th percentile in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, and expected batting average.

6. EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ

The Detroit Tigers’ left-hander is opting out of the final three years and $49 million of his contract after a strong season that saw him pitch to a 13-9 record with a 3.30 ERA. Rodriguez, who turns 31 in April, pitched 152 2/3 innings before an injury in September cost him his last few starts.

Rodriguez was dominant for much of the season. He had an ERA of 2.75 on Aug. 8 before a rough stretch of starts. He finished the season with an impressive ERA+ of 134.

5. JUNG HOO LEE

A free-agent outfielder out of the Korean Baseball League, Lee is a high-batting average left-handed hitter who could fill a hole in either center or left field for the Yankees.

At age 25, Lee has already played seven full seasons in the KBO and put up some spectacular numbers. In 2022, he was the league MVP, hitting .349 with 23 home runs and a .996 OPS. This year, his numbers weren’t quite as gaudy as he hit .319 with an OPS of .863. But he only played 85 games before fracturing his ankle and ending his season early. Lee also hit .429 in four games for Team Korea in last spring’s World Baseball Classic.

4. JORDAN MONTGOMERY

The left-hander and former Yankee would be ideal as a mid-rotation pitcher who would slot in behind Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon. Actually, Montgomery might be more like a legit No. 2 starter the way he pitched this season for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, posting a 3.20 ERA of 32 starts and then throwing seven scoreless innings in Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The question is whether he would sign with the Yankees after they dealt him to the Cardinals at the trade deadline in 2022, letting word leak that they didn’t see him fitting into their postseason rotation. Montgomery also expressed dissatisfaction while in St. Louis about the Yankees wanting him to throw his slider more and his fastball less.

Yet hard feelings have a way of being smoothed over if a team offers enough money, which the Yankees can still be very good at when they want to be.

3. SHOHEI OHTANI

The Japanese superstar would top the list except for the sense that Ohtani’s deal is going to cost more than Steinbrenner is willing to add to the Yankees’ stable of mega-contracts for the likes of Cole, Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Rodon, and others.

In addition, Ohtani broke their hearts six years ago when he turned them down despite the Yankees’ elaborate presentation during the recruiting process, which prompted them to pivot and trade for Stanton a few days later. Though he’s not expected to pitch until 2025, Ohtani’s left-handed power bat would have a huge impact on the Yankees’ offense. It just doesn’t seem likely that Steinbrenner will outbid the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, among other teams, at a cost of at least $400 million.

2. YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO

If they don’t spend big bucks on a bat to jump-start their offense, the Yankees should make the 25-year-old Yamamoto their No. 1 target in free agency. The right-hander has pitched to an astonishing 1.16 ERA over 171 innings this past season, to go with a 17-6 record.

This is the third straight season in which Yamamoto will finish with an ERA under 2.00. The Yankees have made their interest in him clear, with GM Brian Cashman making himself very visible when he scouted the star pitcher last month in Japan. But they will have to outbid several teams, including the Mets, and Steinbrenner may not want to do that if the Yankees decide to prioritize fixing their offense.

1. CODY BELLINGER

This should be where the Yankees turn if indeed they make their biggest splash for a difference-maker at the plate. Bellinger checks all the boxes for the Yankees as a 28-year-old left-handed hitter with power who also plays center field and put up big numbers with the Chicago Cubs this season, hitting .307 with 26 home runs, 29 doubles, a .525 slugging percentage and an OPS of .881.

There may be some concern about repeating this type of production, coming after two down years, but Bellinger has said it took him that long to recover from a torn labrum in his right shoulder that required surgery. With the shoulder finally healed, Bellinger resembled his old MVP self from 2019 when he hit 47 home runs for the Dodgers with a 1.035 OPS.

As one scout told me, “If the Yankees put a healthy Bellinger in their lineup along with a healthy Judge and some of their other pieces, they’d be scary good again offensively.”