They say spring is the time of baseball optimism – freshly-cut grass on a ballfield bathed in Florida sunshine, a new season looming and all that. But big winter moves also breed good feelings, so keep that in mind as you read our offseason grades on how the Yankees re-tooled for 2023.

We love some of these transactions, especially the high-ticket items. Inaction in some areas (yes, we’re grading that, too) is somewhat less appealing. Could they have added a starting left fielder via trade or free agency? You bet. And they should have.

The Yankees won 99 games last year and won the AL East Division title and then got annihilated in the AL Championship Series by – who else? – the Houston Astros. They then faced a major off-season, what with 62-homer man Aaron Judge hitting free agency.

How’d they do? Read on for our winter report card (so far) on the Yankees:

Re-signing Judge

This transaction is the equivalent of that breezy course you take in school to pump up the ol’ GPA. The Yankees had to re-sign their signature player. Judge was coming off a magical season that captivated much of the baseball world, winning the AL MVP Award after leading MLB in runs, homers, RBI (tied with Pete Alonso), on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, OPS-plus and total bases. It would have been a monumental organizational failure, all the way up to Hal Steinbrenner, had the Yanks not made this nine-year, $360-million deal.

Judge will be 31 in April, so there’s risk at the back end of this deal. But the Giants and Padres were willing to give him the equivalent contract and perhaps more, so if the Yanks wanted him, this was the going rate. And, even though there’s other talent on the roster, the Yankees needed to retain their mega-star. No offense to anyone else in pinstripes, but that much-hyped spot in the stands isn’t called “Gleyber’s Gardens.” The Yankees simply would not have been as relevant or interesting without Judge and he wanted to return. Easy one. We’ll throw in a plus for immediately naming him team captain, too.

Grade: A+

Signing Carlos Rodón

Tucking this lefty ace in behind Gerrit Cole was a savvy move for the Yanks, who, if all goes well, will boast a terrific rotation that could present major problems for opponents in a playoff series. Carlos Rodón, who signed for $162 million over six years, has some health history that might prompt unease. But he’s made 55 starts over the past two seasons and notched a 2.67 ERA while striking out 422 batters in 310.2 innings.

At 30 years old, he was always going to get the longest deal of any of the elite starters in this year’s market. Rodón was terrific in San Francisco in 2022, going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA and leading MLB starters with 12 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s got a hard-nosed mound swagger that might help the Yanks. And he’s 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in seven career starts against the Astros.

Grade: A

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