Yankees list of arbitration candidates narrowed after Brian Cashman's roster exodus

When the 2024 season officially ended, the New York Yankees were looking at 10 arbitration-eligible players to take care of for 2025. But that number decreased after the non-tender deadline. And then again over the next few weeks after trades and roster decisions.

Originally, this group contained Jon Berti, Tim Mayza, Nestor Cortes, Jose Trevino, Trent Grisham, JT Brubaker, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Mark Leiter Jr., Clarke Schmidt and Scott Effross. As of Jan. 9, which is the deadline for teams and players to exchange arbitration salary figures, only Chisholm, Leiter Jr. Schmidt, Effross and newcomer Devin Williams remain.

Berti and Mayza were non-tendered. Cortes and Trevino were traded to the Brwers and Reds. Trent Grisham, in danger of being non-tendered, agreed to a lower salary for 2025 back in November (he'll make $5 million instead of his projected $5.7 million). Same goes for Brubaker, who will make $1.82 million.

Projected salaries for Yankees' remaining arbitration candidates in 2025

Here are the projected salaries for the remaining unsettled arbitration candidates:

• Devin Williams — $7.7 million
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. — $6.9 million
• Clarke Schmidt — $3.5 million
• Mark Leiter Jr. — $2.1 million
• Scott Effross — $900K

And what's notable is that none of these players have leverage over the Yankees. Williams missed a large portion of the 2024 season with the Brewers due to an injury. Chisholm, for as athletic as he is, remains somewhere around a league-average player. Schmidt missed over three months in 2024 and has yet to prove he can handle a full starter's workload on a consistent basis. Leiter Jr. was a disaster after coming over at the trade deadline. Effross has barely pitched in two years due to injuries.

All in all, the fewer arbitration cases, the better. Last year, the Yankees had to deal with ensuring Juan Soto was the highest-paid player in arbitration history. And they similarly dealt with that in 2022 when Aaron Judge was up for a huge payday.

The arbitration process is more times than not a headache. Though teams and players typically agree before heading to a hearing, that's rarely the case with some of the better players in the game, who are looking to earn as much as they possibly can while they're locked into incremental salary increases.

The Yankees still have work to do this offseason, but at least they limited their work to do on this front, especially because it typically serves as a distraction more than anything.