The New York Yankees are at a point where hope and doubt are at odds with each other. Gerrit Cole, their finest pitcher, is throwing again after not pitching in a major league game since 2024. The good news comes when the Yankees are losing important offensive players, which raises doubts about whether the team can compete in 2026 even if their ace gets healthy again.

“Gerrit Cole has just completed a 25-pitch bullpen at Yankee Stadium”, Fireside Yankees on X indicates that this is a big step in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander tore a ligament in his elbow, which meant he couldn’t play at all in 2025. This meant that the Yankees had to play without their 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner. Cole showed he was still an elite player before the injury by going 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in just 17 starts in 2024. He struck out 99 batters in that time and stepped up his game when it counted, posting a 2.19 ERA in the playoffs before the Yankees lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic posted video proof that Cole was throwing off a mound for the first time since his injury on November 1, 2025. This shows that the 34-year-old’s recovery is going well.

Still, Cole’s encouraging bullpen session comes at a bad time. After hitting 29 home runs and posting a .272/.334/.480 slash line in 2025, Cody Bellinger chose not to continue his contract with the

New York Yankees. He took 126 RBIs worth of production with him. Trent Grisham hit 34 home runs and had an OPS of.812 during the regular season. He has until November 18 to accept a $22 million qualifying offer. It was a hard choice because he had a terrible playoff run, with a.426 OPS and no RBIs in 32 plate appearances. The Yankees’ bullpen depth that helped them get through October will be hurt by Luke Weaver and Devin Williams both testing free agency.

Cashman is taking a chance by betting that Cole’s arm will heal completely and that the offense can do without players who have already shown they can score runs. That’s a risky bet for a team that hasn’t won a title since 2009.

Yankees target Munetaka Murakami to replace departing power hitters

The New York Yankees aren’t just sitting back and letting their lineup fall apart. As holes opened up on the roster, the front office focused on third base. On Friday morning, a solution came from across the Pacific. Munetaka Murakami said he wants to play in Major League Baseball, and the Yankees are in a good position to go after the Japanese superstar who could fill the gap left by the players who are leaving.

Murakami became famous for destroying pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball starting in 2018. The Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger hit 246 home runs in eight seasons, including a record-breaking 56-homer season in 2022 that broke Sadaharu Oh’s single-season record of 55 that had stood since 1964. The Yankees really need a bat like that after seeing Bellinger’s 29 home runs go to free agency.

Jeff Passan of ESPN said that Japanese star third baseman Munetaka Murakami is entering the posting system on Friday. This officially starts one of the most exciting free agencies of the winter. There is a real sense of urgency. Murakami has 45 days to sign, starting at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday. He will sign with a big-league team before the deadline at 5 p.m. on Dec. 22. The Yankees have six weeks to make their case or watch another power bat go to another team.

Murakami’s glove work is what makes things hard. Scouts think he should be a designated hitter because he isn’t very good at defense at third base, but Giancarlo Stanton already has that job in the Bronx. The Yankees have to decide whether to put Murakami in a position where he might have trouble on defense or let this chance pass them by while their lineup keeps losing talent.