The Yankees are heading toward the non-tender deadline with a familiar kind of roster crunch: some players fans are ready to move on from will stay put, while others could be shown the door even if they still have some value attached to them. By November 20, every MLB team has to decide whether to tender contracts for 2027 to players under team control, and New York will have to sort through who actually fits and who is just taking up space.
For the Yankees, the question is less about money than about whether a player has a real job waiting for him. If there’s a clear role, he’s likely safe. If there isn’t, the roster spot matters more than the price tag.
Anthony Volpe looks like one of the names fans would love to see on the chopping block, but he probably isn’t going anywhere. George Lombard Jr.’s call-up in August looked like it might close the book on Volpe in the Bronx, yet the Yankees haven’t made it that simple.
After his last demotion of 2026, Volpe went on a tear in Scranton from August 7 through September 7, hitting .284/.381/.642. Once he returned to the majors on September 10, he settled back into a .265/.308/.388 line the rest of the way.
At this point, the pattern feels pretty established. The 25-year-old has shown the same version of himself season after season, and the source material notes that he has been resistant to bringing analytics into his approach.
Even so, Volpe still has an inside track to the starting second base job. And with team control through 2029 plus two minor league options remaining, the Yankees are not about to give up on him now.
Jasson Dominguez is in a different kind of mess. If there’s one player on the roster who seems stuck in limbo, it’s him.
He hasn’t handled center field, didn’t adjust to left, and struggled in right. That leaves a 23-year-old who may be looking at a DH-only path, and even that comes with baggage: he’s a switch hitter who can’t hit from the right side.
With so many left-handed bats already in the mix, he doesn’t even solve the problem as a right-handed complement.
Still, Dominguez is young enough and controlled enough to keep around for now. He’s a year away from arbitration and has one option left. Cutting him loose would amount to giving up on him outright, so the Yankees are more likely to try to rebuild some trade value for him in Scranton and see whether they can turn him into something more useful than a spare part.
If those two are the players fans wish were vulnerable but probably aren’t, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil are the ones who actually look exposed.
Schmidt has shown he can help when he’s on the mound. He posted a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts before going down with a torn UCL in 2025, and he owns a career 3.81 ERA.
He could even fit in the bullpen if he’s not starting. But the availability problem keeps winning out.
Since 2023, he has topped 85 1/3 innings only once, and that was back in 2023. The right biceps issue that ended his comeback attempt in September only added to the concern.
What really puts Schmidt on the edge is his contract situation. He’s entering his final year of team control and has no options left. The Yankees are likely to lose him one way or another, so moving on before the deadline would at least let them capture some savings.
Gil’s case is built on the same injury concerns, but with a different kind of disappointment attached. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year missed most of 2025 with a lat strain and then spent a large chunk of 2026 dealing with right shoulder inflammation. Unlike Schmidt, though, Gil hasn’t backed up the promise since winning the award.
He could still survive if the Yankees find a trade partner. Gil is out of options too, but he has three more years of team control, and that kind of controllable arm can still draw interest.
A team might be willing to take a shot on a former Rookie of the Year and hand over a lottery ticket in return. But if New York can’t move him before November 20, he’ll be non-tendered.
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