Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Making Free Agency Interest in Rival Ace Apparent, Per Insider

The New York Yankees are showing interest in a free agent starting pitcher who had a resurgent 2024 season.

Grant Young

Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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The New York Yankees are expected to be in play for most of baseball's biggest free agents this offseason.

Of course, their priority is going to re-sign slugger Juan Soto. And if they're successful in bringing him back to the Bronx, the amount of money Soto will command will probably make it difficult to sign a Cy Young-caliber starting pitcher in a long-term deal this winter.

Then again, this is the Yankees we're talking about. We wouldn't put anything past them.

And the New York Post's Jon Heyman made it clear that the Yankees are already setting the stage to potentially pursue one of several available aces in free agency — including one who pitched great for their cross-town rival — in a November 6 article.

"The Yankees checked on the free-agent ace pitchers — Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell — but it remains uncertain whether they would do Soto and an ace pitcher, too," Heyman wrote.

"The Yankees also are interested in Sean Manaea, who will turn down the $21.05M qualifying offer from the Mets."

Manaea signed a two-year, $28 million contract with the Mets this past offseason, which included a player opt-out option after the 2024 campaign ended.

Manaea declining that option and testing free agency became inevitable after he produced arguably the best season of his career in 2024, posting a 12-6 record with a 3.47 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 181.2 innings pitched in the regular season and being a workhorse for New York in the playoffs.

Now Manaea will surely sign for more than the $13.5 million he would have made with the Mets next season if he had exercised his player option.

Still, he'll likely command less money than the three other starters Heyman mentioned — which could make him an ideal fit for the Yankees.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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