3 Yankees free agents plan to leave the Bronx this offseason

The New York Yankees made it to the World Series for the first time since 2009. They reached the postseason with the AL East Division title and a first-round bye because of their superstars Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Both stars were considered candidates for the 2024 AL MVP, which will almost certainly go to Judge at the end of the season.

But in the postseason, Judge struggled mightily. The rest of the roster, including some upcoming free agents, acquired him, resulting in the Yankees defeating the Cleveland Guardians and ending up in the World Series.

But these players are playing so well that they could potentially retire from the Bronx in 2025. It will be next to impossible for the Yankees to keep Juan Soto and also bring back the other free agents who will keep this World Series going.

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One of the best pickups for the Yankees this year was also one of the least underrated pickups for the Yankees. I'm not talking about Mark Leiter or Jazz Chisholm. I'm talking about left-handed reliever Tim Hill, who has excelled with the Yankees this year after being a below-average pitcher throughout his pro career.

Hill had 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 over 44 innings. He was truly dominant as a lefty specialist in Aaron Boone's bullpen.

In the postseason, Hill pitched seven innings for Boone, allowing six hits and one earned run. He was one of the better left-handed hitters in the Yankees' dugout, but valued himself far more highly than he was worth when the Yankees acquired him.

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

Going into the postseason, it seemed like the Yankees had a decent, not great, bullpen on their hands, which included the change-making Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle was tied to a two-year, $11.5 million contract that he signed after the 2022 season. When Kahnle signed this contract, he was considered a good backup player, but not a great backup player.

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

But his dominance continued long after the regular season, as Kahnle has thrown 7.2 scoreless postseason innings this October. Despite his high walk rate, he was one of the Yankees' best bullpen arms, using only one pitch: his changeup. Kahnle's changeup is such a good pitch that he threw it over 50 times in a row this October. The batsmen all know it's coming, but there's nothing they can do about it.

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

As the regular season came to a close, it seemed like the Yankees were probably perfectly fine with allowing their starting second baseman, Gleyber Torres, to hit free agency. He had a very sluggish offensive campaign while also being one of the worst statistical infield defenders in the league. This season, Torres slashed .257/.330/.378, which posted the second-worst single-season OPS+ of his career.

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

But Torres completely turned his game up in the postseason. He's hitting .289/.389/.422 with more walks than strikeouts. Torres was the ideal leadoff hitter for Boone's team and set the stage 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 that New York doesn't have money for free agency, but since they want to secure Soto for the next decade or so, they might commit too much money to Soto and go for Torres, especially given his Price considered with this great off-season piece.

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