5 2025 free agents Yankees should already be focused on

Alex Bregman

Carlos Correa wasn't the villain-made-good story of the Yankees' dreams. Neither was George Springer. Neither was Justin Verlander. So what about this time around? Maybe Adames won't be the only Jeter idolizer on the Yankees' radar.

Jeter is Alex Bregman's idol; the Astros agitator wears No. 2 in Jeter's honor, and homered as a visitor on the day the shortstop went into Monument Park. Very annoying, but could quickly become endearing if the Yankees save some money headed into next winter.

Bregman occasionally gets overshadowed by Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez on his exceptional current Astros team, but he was just as much a part of the franchise's rise as Correa, Springer, and the other prominent names. Though he is a (sigh) righty, he posted All-Star campaigns in both 2018 and 2019 at the ages of 24 and 25, drilling 41 home runs while finishing second in the MVP race just before the pandemic.

The last two seasons, he's rebounded nicely from a 113 OPS+ to hit 23 and 25 bombs, reaching OPS+ marks of 134 and 122. He's as rocksteady as it gets at third base, too.

But you don't need me to tell you more about Bregman. How he always manages to seamlessly field dribblers. How he ambushes fastballs on the inner half. How he (shudders) smirks in the locker room after securing yet another title. This is how $200-250 million should be spent, and the Astros probably agree with that diagnosis. But only the Yankees have the Captain's star power, in case Houston doesn't feel like tying themselves down to another player's 30s.