Yankees News: Corbin Burnes leaves AL East, Teoscar Hernandez chase ends, Aaron Judge

Friday featured some of the biggest movement of the MLB offseason to date. Two of the biggest free agents came off the board and may have created a secondary domino effect with the remaining names out there. Oh yeah, and Gleyber Torres signed with the Detroit Tigers. But this first bit of news is particularly good for the New York Yankees.

Early Saturday morning on the east coast and late Friday night on the west coast, Corbin Burnes departed the AL East. He left the Baltimore Orioles in favor of the Arizona Diamondbacks in what, on the surface, appeared to be a shocker.

Earlier in the day, it was being reported Burnes was seeking a deal worth at least $245 million, which was to be expected. In fact, many thought it was a foregone conclusion he was exceeding $250 million.

But when the dust settled, Burnes, who lives in Scottsdale, AZ, signed a six-year, $210 million contract with an opt out after the second season. This was believed to be an agreement of convenience, as it was reported both the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays offered more money but Burnes and his wife wanted to stay at home in Arizona, leading to the D-backs handing out the largest contract in franchise history.

More trouble for the Los Angeles Dodgers? We'll certainly get on board with that after Burnes and Kyle Tucker are now in the National League.

Yankees News: Corbin Burnes signs with D-backs, Teoscar Hernandez re-signs with Dodgers

Speaking of the World Series champs, they made an impact deal on Friday as well, retaining star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez on a three-year contract worth $66 million. Before you ask, yes, there were deferrals.

Hernandez, once said to be a Yankees target, seemingly always wanted to re-up in LA, something he's telegraphed for quite some time now. New York learned its lesson and focused its efforts elsewhere instead of waiting for the chips to fall in their favor (though we don't know how serious their pursuit really was).

Hernandez gets a $22 million AAV after helping lead the Dodgers to a World Series victory over the Yankees. Good for LA, but rest in peace to their payroll in 10 years. They better hope to win a couple more championships before this current core is on the outs.

And finally, in some directly-related Yankees news, MVP Aaron Judge is expecting his first child with his wife Samanthan Bracksieck. Judge and Bracksieck got married back in 2021 when photos surfaced of the two in Hawaii not too long after the Yankees' Wild Card Game loss to the Boston Red Sox.

According to Page Six, Bracksieck is pregnant with the couple's future daughter. Congratulations to the Captain and his wife!

Judge and the Yankees have another few months of downtime before spring training, and there are still a few more offseason moves to make before the 2025 roster is a finished product. As for the Judge household? We're looking at midsummer for that.