3 tough offseason decisions Yankees need to make, but won't

Aaron Judge said it. These New York Yankees need many a change to fix whatever's broken. The injuries. The lack of depth. The prospects that flame out once they reach MLB. The complacency. The will to win. Making contact! It all seems so simple, but the Bombers have made it look incredilbly difficult for four years now.

This offseason, there's no doubt the front office (and Hal Steinbrenner) will be working tirelessly to alter the perception that's now dominated the baseball sphere: the Yankees are weak, underwhelming, and far behind the curve.

That means drastic decision making needs to be on the horizon -- something the Yankees are usually hesitant to orchestrate, unless it's something beyond unexpected and detrimental to team chemistry (see: every trade deadline deal since 2021).

Heading into 2024, the Yankees are in grave danger of wasting another year of Aaron Judge's and Gerrit Cole's primes. The 2021 and 2023 seasons have already done enough damage.

But does the organization have the guts to make ruthless moves in order to improve the bigger picture? Probably not, but here's what needs to be done.

3 tough offseason decisions Yankees need to make, but won't

Sell high on someone: Gleyber Torres? Clarke Schmidt? Top pitching prospects?

This is the move they're most likely to make because Brian Cashman loves disrupting the balance of the roster. But in our eyes, it's still unlikely. He's probably not going to get the value he seeks in any trade, which usually halts negotiations rather swiftly for the Yanks.

Torres is the obvious one, solely because he's been in rumors for the better part of a year and probably won't be on the team beyond 2024. Is it the best decision for the Yankees to trade their second-best hitter? Not exactly, but if they can address multiple needs by moving him, then they should. After all, Torres shouldn't be your second-best hitter -- that's how deep the Yankees' problems run.

Clarke Schmidt is another option, but he didn't end the year on a high note and represents an asset the Yankees probably shouldn't part with. A controllable starter through 2027? Teams kill for that. And the Yankees need starting pitching. But again, if the price is right, this deal has to happen.

Same goes for Austin Wells + the Yankees' glut of highly-rated top prospects. Wells, in theory, shouldn't get in the way of a Juan Soto trade. Nor should any of the team's top prospects outside of Jasson Dominguez. The Yankees need to be aggressive in the right ways this time around. They won't be, though. We can assure you of that.