3 Yankees free agents who will leave, and 2 who will return in 2024

The list of Yankees who should be gone entering 2024 numbers in the double-digits, but the list of players who will be gone is a bit dicier.

Luckily, things are fairly straightforward when it comes to the team's free agent class. This isn't last offseason. Arson Judge is not on the market. Even Harrison Bader, initially thought to represent one of the Yankees' toughest free agency decisions, is already one team removed from New York's roster.

If the entire free agent class found new homes this offseason, it would barely make an emotional dent in the heart of most Yankee fans. That said, there are a few names still circling who appear more likely than not to return -- either on bounce-back deals or to provide stability and a bullpen backbone.

Don't shoot the messenger here. We're just telling you how this process is most likely to go. The Yankees are likelier to find marked improvements on the trade market this offseason than in free agency, and unless you enthusiastically support them dropping $200+ million on Cody Bellinger, a few shrewd deals will probably make you feel better anyway. Here's how we believe they'll treat their own free agents this offseason.

3 Yankees free agents who'll go, 2 who'll return for 2024

Yankees Free Agent Who Will Leave: Luis Severino

Notice how you haven't heard an ounce of Luis Severino chatter this offseason, but have already heard plenty of scuttlebutt about another Yankees free agent arm? Yeah. Pretty telling.

Severino's walk year was an abject nightmare, save for a two-start scoreless stretch against the Nationals and Tigers at the end of August that earned him one more Yankee Stadium salute. Typically, though, instead of mowing down opponents, he was more likely to view himself as baseball's worst pitcher, wrapping the year with a 6.65 ERA, 1.5 bWAR subtracted, and a painful injury that felt as if somebody had "shot" him (his words, not ours).

That was ultimately diagnosed as a "high-grade" left oblique strain, an injury that shouldn't linger into 2024, but ... with Severino, you just never know. Regardless of whether or not his injury timeline bleeds into next season, that will be some other team's concern.