The Yankees are headed into another offseason with a long to-do list, and the AL East keeps making that job even harder. New York still has to solve its own issues after another postseason letdown, but there’s also a built-in advantage to shopping inside the division: if you can improve and weaken a rival at the same time, that’s a win.
With that in mind, there are a handful of pending free agents from AL East clubs who could make sense in the Bronx in 2027. Not every name fits cleanly, and some would be more about fit than flash, but each one brings something the Yankees could use.
Boston Red Sox left-hander Patrick Sandoval is one of the more interesting options. On paper, the fit is awkward at first glance because New York already has starting pitching and Sandoval posted a 5.12 ERA in 2026.
But the story is a little more complicated than that. The 30-year-old lost the second half of 2024, all of 2025, and the first half of 2026 while working back from Tommy John surgery and dealing with a few setbacks.
That long layoff makes it fair to wonder how much of the rough stat line was rust. Sandoval’s best work came earlier with the Los Angeles Angels, where a 2.91 ERA in 2022 stood out as his peak.
Even in 2026, there were signs the underlying performance had more life than the ERA suggested. He struck out hitters at a 22.7% clip, and he limited hard contact with a 34.6% hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity of 87.5 miles per hour.
Those numbers ranked in the 78th and 77th percentile, respectively.
If Ryan Yarbrough reaches free agency, Sandoval could slide into that kind of swing-man or long-relief role. He’d also give the Yankees another left-handed arm to evaluate, with the possibility that they could try to turn him into something like a left-handed version of Paul Blackburn. And if the club believes in the arm enough, adding him could create another avenue for moving starting pitching depth in a trade.
The bullpen is the area that screams for help, and Baltimore Orioles right-hander Andrew Kittredge fits that need cleanly. David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill, John Schreiber and Ryan Yarbrough are all free agents, and the group already lacked depth even before those names hit the market. Fernando Cruz’s partially torn UCL also figures to make him either unavailable or a major question mark in 2027.
Kittredge wouldn’t be a Bednar replacement, and he’s probably not the answer if the Yankees are looking for a classic late-inning setup arm. What he does offer is stability in the middle innings.
The 36-year-old put up a 3.54 ERA over 48 1/3 innings in 2026, which was his worst mark in a season since 2019. Even so, that still reads as a dependable year for a reliever with his track record.
He works with a sinker-slider mix, the kind of profile that tends to fit Matt Blake’s lane, and he should come at a manageable price.
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw is a different kind of target entirely. He only enters the conversation if Toronto declines its $8 million club option for 2027, but if he reaches free agency, he’d bring a few things the Yankees might want.
Toronto picked him up in January of 2025 along with $2 million in international bonus pool money, hoping the extra funds would help them land Roki Sasaki. Instead, Straw became the fallback piece.
The bat is not the draw here. He hit .241/.304/.342 in 2026 and owns a career line of .246/.314/.319.
What makes him useful is the glove. Straw is a plus defender in center field and can handle the corners, giving New York a right-handed bat to pair with Spencer Jones and the rest of the outfield group.
He also doesn’t give away many at-bats by striking out; his 13.3% strikeout rate in 2026 and 17.1% career mark both stand out. Then there’s the speed, with a 29.7 feet-per-second average sprint speed that ranked in the 97th percentile.
He also has a 30-steal season and two 20-steal campaigns on his resume.
There’s also a possible parallel with Washington Nationals center fielder Jacob Young, who has reportedly been connected to the Yankees in trade chatter. If Straw gets to market, he checks many of those same boxes and would cost money rather than prospects. Of course, there’s also the matter of his history with the home crowd, something that would need to be smoothed over.
The last name on the list comes from Tampa Bay: right-hander Nick Martinez. He and the Rays have a mutual option worth $20 million for 2027, and those sorts of deals rarely end with both sides staying put. After his playoff run, it would not be a shock if the 36-year-old tests free agency anyway.
Martinez would bring the kind of usefulness that managers and front offices love: he can start, he can relieve, and he can move around depending on the need. He made 31 starts for Tampa, but his career has been built on that do-everything profile.
That versatility matters. Like Sandoval, Martinez could help the Yankees reshape the roster by giving them a pitcher who can absorb innings while other pieces get moved to patch bigger holes.
The catch is cost. Martinez may end up pricing himself beyond what the Yankees would want to spend on this role. But if Brian Cashman wants to get aggressive, he’d be a strong fit.
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