“Not done yet.” Those were the famous words spoken by Hal Steinbrenner on December 21st, 2022 shortly after a 48-hour window that saw him dole out long-term contracts to Carlos Rodon and Aaron Judge. It was an invigorating time to be a Yankee fan, as it felt like the Yankees meant business.

In reality, though, the Yankees were, in fact, done. If you had asked any Yankee fan off the street prior to last season what the team’s biggest pre-season need was, the answer would be a left fielder. Even after signing Judge and Rodon to mega-deals, the team needed more.

Here’s a list of what the Yankees did after signing Judge and Rodon:

• Signed Tommy Kahnle
• End of list

No, seriously, that’s it for moves with consequence for the Major League Roster. Short of giving Anthony Volpe the Opening Day Shortstop job, of course. They left the outfield problem unsolved, thrusting the Yankees into a left-field circus starring Aaron Hicks, Billy Mckinney, Jake Bauers, and Oswaldo Cabrera.

Brian Cashman was asked to comment on the Yankees’ lack of moves leading up to the season in May of last year, where he said, “It takes two to tango. You engage other clubs, you try to make deals … you’re not going to make a bad deal,” Cashman told the media. “So, I think his comment was more like, ‘Hey, we’re not done, we’ve got areas we want to get better at,’ but we’re not going to just do something that’s not going to make any sense.”

If you’re wondering why Brian Cashman has been with the organization for so long, that quote basically sums it up. He’s great at his job (taking Steinbrenners’ lumps for him).

Fast forward a year later, December 2023, and the Yankees are in a similar situation. They just traded for superstar outfielder Juan Soto, giving up Michael King, among other MLB ready arms, and a nice prospect in Drew Thorpe.

Next on their list, naturally, was Japanese Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Well, Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325,000,000 contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including a $50,000,000 signing bonus, $325,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $27,083,333. He also recently said the Dodgers were his preferred destination. So, despite the Yankees’ attempts, they were behind the 8 ball the whole time.

Utility Man Isiah Kiner-Falefa also recently signed a 2-year, $15,000,000 contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. Not in the realm of missing out on Yamamoto, but it leaves another question mark on this Yankees roster.

So yes, the Yankees made a big splash in acquiring Juan Soto while adding Alex Verdugo in a vintage Brian Cashman shrewd acquisition. But this roster still needs improving.

The 2024 Active Roster As It Stands

Let’s take a look at the Yankees’ projected 2024 lineup:

• DJ LeMahieu 3B
• Aaron Judge CF
• Juan Soto RF
• Giancarlo Stanton DH
• Anthony Rizzo 1B
• Gleyber Torres 2B
• Alex Verdugo LF
• Anthony Volpe SS
• Austin Wells C

The bench, as of now, will be comprised of Jose Trevino, Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera and Trent Grisham.

Let’s move on to the projected starting rotation and bullpen:

• Gerrit Cole
• Carlos Rodon
• Nestor Cortes
• Clarke Schmidt
• Clayton Beeter

Bullpen:

• Clay Holmes
• Jonathan Loaisiga
• Tommy Kahnle
• Ian Hamilton
• Scott Effross
• Victor Gonzalez (L)
• Ron Marinaccio
• Nick Ramirez (L)

The glaring issue is the starting pitching, or lack thereof. The Yankees will be reliant on resurgences from Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon. If those two continue to struggle, it’s going to be awfully difficult for the Yankees to navigate a full season with their arms.

And now that they’ve missed out on Yamamoto, they’ll need to look elsewhere to fill out their rotation beyond crossing their fingers for Cortes and Rodon.

The options for the Yankees are few and far between. Yamamoto’s mega-deal has set the tone for pitcher contracts this off-season. The two most obvious choices are overpaying for a reunion with Jordan Montgomery (projected Six Years, $150MM) or overpaying for Blake Snell off a Cy Young campaign (projected Seven Years, $200MM).

The Yankees can also go a different direction, perhaps bringing back Frankie Montas or giving Lucas Giolito a one-year prove-it deal. There’s also Mike Clevinger. However, none of these options ought to move the needle, and any of them are simply back-of-the-rotation fill-ins. Shota Imanaga is another Japanese pitcher the Yankees could target, but most pin him as a back-end starter too.

They could go the trade route and acquire one of Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber or Corbin Burnes — all names who have been rumored to get moved before the season begins.

Expectations

It’s hard to see the Yankees making a big splash for Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell. My prediction is they’ll bring back Frankie Montas and, ideally, make a trade for Corbin Burnes (or one of Cease/Bieber).

The reality is, there’s no comfortable move to be made here. And there’s certainly no move that will make the Yankees feel comfortable. But the Yankees, unlike last off-season, can’t afford to be done yet. They’ve acquired a fancy new toy, but the reality of their 82-win 2023 campaign still hangs over them. If they want to prove that they mean business this time around, they’ll continue adding to their rotation and their lineup depth.

Even with any more moves, though, 2024 will be a season defined by bounce-backs. The Yankees will only go as far as Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Oswaldo Cabrera, Carlos Rodon, and Nestor Cortes can take them. They’ll also need Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to have full, healthy seasons.

So, while the Yankees shouldn’t be done yet, there isn’t a ton more to be done beside have high hopes.