How are these members of 2024 Yankees performing with their new teams?

The 2024 New York Yankees were a team of destiny — right up until they weren’t. They tore through the American League thanks to a dominant offense and just enough starting pitching before falling in the World Series to the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers. 

And while this year’s Yankees roster features plenty of the same players who helped lead the team to the Fall Classic last year, it’s also missing some key pieces. 

Here’s a look at how five players from last year’s Yankees team are doing with their new team.

How are these members of 2024 Yankees performing with their new teams?

OF Juan Soto — New York Mets
2025 stats: .233/.361/.438, 11 HR, 30 RBI

While it’s only been seven months since Soto was with the Yankees, it feels like it’s been seven years. 

Soto spent one year with the Yankees and hit .288 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI en route to a third-place MVP finish. He was worth 7.9 bWAR, and was the Yankees’ No. 1 target in free agency. 

How’d that work out? 

While the Yankees were in the Soto sweepstakes every step of the way, they finished as the second fiddle when Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. 

And his tenure with the Mets has been interesting, to say the least. While Soto’s batting average is down a little bit this year, he’s still been worth 1.8 bWAR for a Mets team that entered Wednesday in first place in the National League East. 

Yankees fans got a bit of revenge on Soto during the Mets’ series against the Yankees in the Bronx, however. Soto went 1-for-10 in the series and seemed shaken by the Yankee Stadium atmosphere. He then had to answer questions about his hustle (or lack thereof) in the Mets’ next series. 

Such is the Soto experience.

LHP Nestor Cortes — Milwaukee Brewers
2025 stats: 9.00 ERA in eight innings

Cortes’ Yankees tenure ended on a sour note last year when Aaron Boone called on him to save the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series, which resulted in Freddie Freeman hitting one of the most iconic home runs in MLB history. 

It didn’t come as a surprise that the Yankees traded Cortes to the Brewers in the offseason, and he hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact in the Cream City. 

Cortes only made two starts this year before going on the injured list with an elbow strain that’s expected to keep him out until the All-Star break. 

But that doesn’t mean the Yankees didn’t find a way to make an impression against him this year. Cortes got the start against the Yankees in the season-opening series, where he surrendered home runs on his first three pitches of the game. 

While the Yankees’ trade of Cortes looks like less of a win thanks to Devin Williams’ struggles, it still looks like the Yankees cut bait on Cortes at the perfect time. 

OF Alex Verdugo — Atlanta Braves
2025 stats: .252/.311/.317, 0 HR, 10 RBI

Although no one would have mistaken the Yankees version of Verdugo for Barry Bonds, it seems like he left all of his power in the Bronx. 

Verdugo signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Braves in late March, and they called him up in the middle of April. While he’s gotten on base at a good .311 clip, he’s only had nine extra base hits this year, and they’ve all been doubles. 

Verdugo was fine in his one year with the Yankees (he had an OPS+ of 84 in the regular season but had eight RBI in the postseason), but there’s a reason that he didn’t sign a contract until the middle of March. He’s not an impact player on a winning team, and the rest of MLB seemed to realize it. He’ll once again be a free agent at the end of the season.

C Jose Trevino — Cincinnati Reds
2025 stats: .278/.311/.461, 3 HR, 12 RBI

An All-Star with the Yankeees in 2022, Trevino’s production fell off a cliff in 2023 and ‘24, which is part of the reason why he only played in 128 games combined across those two seasons. 

The Yankees cut bait with him in the offseason by trading him to the Reds in exchange for Fernando Cruz and Alex Jackson.

While Trevino has been playing better this year (nearly half of his hits have been for extra bases), this trade looks like a win for the Yankees thanks to the emergence of Cruz, who has a 2.66 ERA in 23 2/3 innings and could be in line for a bigger role thanks to Luke Weaver’s injury. 

He’s under contract for the next two seasons at $5.25 million a year and has a $6.5 million team option for 2028 or a $1 million buyout.

RHP Clay Holmes — New York Mets
2025 stats: 3.07 ERA in 67 1/3 innings

Another former Yankee to move to Queens in the offseason, the Mets signed Holmes to a three-year, $38 million contract with the thinking that he could be a starting pitcher, which seemed like an overpay at the time. 

He’s been solid thus far, however, and is coming off a month where he had a 3.34 ERA in 29 2/3 innings. Those numbers look even worse for the Bombers considering how much depth they lost below Max Fried and Carlos Rodón (thank you, again, to Ryan Yarbrough).

Holmes was the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde-reliever during his time with the Yankees, but he’s been able to find some consistency in the Mets’ rotation.