Yankees’ 2025 Spring Training Preview: 4 vital areas to address ft. Replacing Juan Soto's production

The New York Yankees made it to the World Series last year, but they lost their second-best player to free agency. This team is very different from the one that won the AL pennant last year. There are a lot of new pieces coming into Spring Training.

They're still one of the best teams in baseball and in the AL, but they have a few major holes to address in spring training. There are a few big questions that must be answered as well, so here's what they need to do moving forward.

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What the Yankees must do in Spring Training

4) Set up the bullpen

The Yankees must set up their pen (Imagn)

The Yankees bullpen was strong last year even if it was made up of "no-name" pitchers. Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle, two of their top arms, are gone, though. They did add Devin Williams, but he can't do it alone.

They have Williams and Luke Weaver at the top and they are a strong one-two punch, but who else will be their high-leverage arms? A healthy Jonathan Loaisiga helps, but who else will pitch in key spots? It's time to find out.

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3) Determine the starting rotation

The Yankees have to set their rotation (Imagn)

The starting rotation last year was Gerrit Cole (and then he got hurt), Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes Jr., Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman. Luis Gil entered after Cole's injury. Those guys held it down last year, but some of them won't this year.

Now, it's going to be made up of Cole, Max Fried, Rodon, Schmidt and Gil. Stroman is either going to be traded or moved to the bullpen. They have to determine the order of the rotation. Do they insert Fried as the two behind Cole or do they leave that for the reigning Rookie of the Year in Gil? These questions have to be answered.

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2) Replace Juan Soto's production

The Yankees have to find Juan Soto's offense (Imagn)

As impossible as it is, the Yanks must find the runs that Juan Soto took with him when he left for the New York Mets. Last year, their offense was predicated on the titanic duo of Soto and Aaron Judge. Now, they're without one-half of that duo.

They added Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt and they're likely to have top prospect Jasson Dominguez for a full season. That still doesn't add up to Soto, so the spring is the time to find out who can aid in that pursuit.

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1) Find another infielder

The Yankees have to find another infielder (Imagn)

They could still sign Alex Bregman or make a trade for Nolan Arenado, but those moves are increasingly unlikely heading into Spring Training. That means either a second or third baseman is going to have to come from the current roster.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. will play the other position, so they need only one player. They have to determine if that should be Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, DJ LeMahieu, George Lombard Jr., Roderick Arias or someone else.