The real problem with the Yankees 'running it back' that some fans may not realize

As it stands, the New York Yankees are set to carry a $333 million payroll heading into the 2026 season. After the signing of Paul Goldschmidt, we can assume they are done making moves (unless they really want a righty outfield bat or have a trade in the works for another bullpen arm).

That number will balloon to about $407 million once all of the tax penalties are incurred. This would be the largest payfoll figure in the history of the franchise. For all those "Hal is cheap" critics out there, your argument is dead.

But we have a new one for you if you'd like to jump on board. And it's also not the low-hanging fruit of "we can't believe the Yankees are running it back!". We've gone over this a lot, and while the Yankees returning almost the exact same roster isn't exactly inspiring, there wasn't much they could've done this offseason. That had to do with the rough trade market, the top-heavy free agent class, and the previous roster construction work Brian Cashman has done to create countless obstacles.

Sometimes, it just is what it is. But far worse things have happened than the Yankees "running back" a 94-win team that had the best offense in MLB. A few more bounces in their favor and they could've very well been in the World Series (though we will reiterate the Yankees rarely get those bounces, so that's not anything to ever bank on).

What we will criticize, however, is the fact the Yankees are spending record-setting money on a carbon copy of the 2025 roster, seemingly throwing caution to the wind with their finances this year while restricting themselves in previous campaigns.

And that makes their efforts in 2024 all the more unforgivable. We could lament about previous years, but the lone season with Juan Soto in tow will forever be a stain on Cashman's tenure — one in which it's clear he's officially overstayed his welcome.

The Yankees' lone "impact" move was trading for Soto. They also added Alex Verdugo, which was a massive bust. They signed Marcus Stroman, which was another terrible decision. Beyond that, they signed Luke Weaver and Cody Poteet and brought back Lou Trivino. Those were micro additions, fulfilling their usual offseason plans of making one big move and then coasting until Opening Day.

At the very least, we sat there with the hope they'd go all out at the trade deadline in order to maximize this once in a lifetime chance with Soto on the roster. Instead, they traded for Jazz Chisholm, Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos. Chisholm was great, but the Yankees put him at third base (a position he's never played before) because Gleyber Torres refused to give up second base. Mark Leiter Jr. was a middling bullpen acquisition at best. De Los Santos was off the roster about a month later.

Yankees "running it back" makes 2024 roster building look even worse

The end result? The Dodgers beat the Yankees in the 2024 World Series because of New York's bullpen meltdowns and defensive malfeasance. Why did they not go further to acquire more pieces and push the payroll to the brink if they were going to do that same thing a couple years later in underwhelming fashion? Why was 2024 not the year to go all in?

The 2024 payroll was nothing to sneeze at: the $316 million figure jumped to $378 million with the tax bill at the end of the year. But they had countless sunk costs on the roster/payroll from Stroman to Verdugo to Anthony Rizzo to DJ LeMahieu to Clay Holmes to Jonathan Loaisiga to Aaron Hicks.

The Dodgers were beatable, too. They were almost eliminated in the NLDS by the division-rival San Diego Padres. The Mets briefly put a scare into them in the NLCS. The Yankees technically outplayed them in the World Series, but they made more mistakes to overshadow all of it.

They had the lane to improve their defense, tighten up their pitching, and add another contact bat. They failed on all fronts. And now they'll bring back an imperfect/less talented roster for $30 million more than that one despite having all of Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, Jasson Dominguez, Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe and Will Warren as consistent contributors making next to no money early on in the arbitration process.

It's just another way to highlight the mismanagement of payroll runds under this current regime, and how anything short of a World Series in 2026 will only amplify that failure.