3 Yankees free agents are pricing their way out of the Bronx this postseason

The New York Yankees have reached the World Series for the first time since 2009. They entered 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 seen as candidates for the 2024 AL MVP, which will almost certainly go to Judge at the end of the season.

But during the postseason, Judge has struggled mightily. The rest of the roster, including some upcoming free agents, have picked him up, leading to the Yankees beating the Cleveland Guardians and landing in the World Series.

But these players are playing so well that they might actually price themselves out of the Bronx in 2025. It will be nearly impossible for the Yankees to retain Juan Soto and also bring back the other free agents that make this World Series run. possible.

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One of the best pickups for the Yankees this year was also one of the most under the radar pickups for the Yankees. I’m not talking about Mark Leiter or Jazz Chisholm. I’m talking about left-handed revivalist Tim Hill, who has been outstanding with the Yankees this year after being a below-average pitcher for the length of his professional 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 has really been dominant as a lefty specialist in Aaron Boone’s bullpen.

In the postseason, Hill has thrown seven innings for Boone, allowing six hits and one earned run. He has been one of the better lefties in the Yankees dugout, while also pricing himself much higher than his value was when the Yankees signed him.

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

Heading into the postseason, it seemed like the Yankees had a decent, not great, bullpen on their hands, which included heavy replacement 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 seen as a good reliever, but not a great reliever.

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 inning. nine innings and struck out nearly 10 hitters per nine innings. His production has been consistent and dominant this year.

But his dominance has continued long after the regular season, as Kahnle has thrown 7.2 scoreless postseason innings in October. He has been one of the best bullpen arms for the Yankees, despite a high walk rate, while using only one pitch: his changeup. Kahnle’s changeup is such a good pitch that he has thrown it over 50 straight times in October. Hitters all know it’s coming, but they can’t do anything about it.

But his game could be so good that his contract in free agency could be $7 million or $8 million per season, putting him out of the Yankees’ price range.

As the regular season ended, it seemed like the Yankees would probably be perfectly fine with letting their starting second baseman, Gleyber Torres, leave in free agency. He put together a very pedestrian offensive campaign while being one of the worst statistical infield defenders in the league. On the season, Torres slashed .257/.330/.378, which accounted for the second-worst single-season OPS+ of his career.

New York had the option to let him go, move Jazz Chisholm to second base and sign a star third baseman in free agency.

But Torres has really stepped up his game in the postseason. He is slashing .289/.389/.422 with more walks than strikeouts. Torres has been the ideal leadoff hitter for Boone’s crew, setting the table 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 might want to price himself out of the Bronx. It’s not like New York doesn’t have money to spend in free agency, but with them looking to secure Soto for the next decade or so, they could commit too much money to Soto and run out on Torres, especially since his price tag goes up with this amazing postseason game.

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