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A year ago, the Yankees had one clear free agent target in Cody Bellinger.

But the lefty-hitting, Gold Glove left fielder lingered on the market until Jan. 21, when he agreed to a five-year, $162.5 million contract.

That deal contains an opt out after the 2027 season, the start of which could be affected by a work stoppage.

MLB’s current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, and a looming lockout will impact business over the next four weeks.

With free agency now underway, here’s a ranking of five potential Yankees targets:

5. Luis Arraez

Position: Second base, first base

In his recent assessment of the Yankees’ latest early October exit, owner Hal Steinbrenner pointed to an inconsistent offense.

“Some of them just underperformed,’’ said Steinbrenner “They didn’t live up to what they’re capable of.’’

This year’s Rays-Brewers World Series, won by Milwaukee, featured lineups that routinely put the ball in play and pressure an opponent’s defense.

And in this year’s free agent class, lefty-hitting Luis Arraez is a connoisseur of contact, with just 28 strikeouts in 655 plate appearances in 2026, while batting .310 for the Giants and Phillies.

A three-time batting champ, Arraez – who turns 30 in April – came up with Minnesota in 2019, with James Rowson, then the Twins batting coach.

But Rowson’s immediate future as Yanks’ batting coach is cloudy and Arraez’s complete lack of power and shaky defensive reputation (though he improved his metrics as a second baseman this year) are marks against a long-term deal.

4. Paul Blackburn

Position: Relief pitcher

Yes, the bullpen is a volatile area.

Blackburn’s success in 2026 doesn’t guarantee a repeat in 2027 and 2028.

But the right-hander was such a revelation – at a bargain price – that a multi-year contract must be a consideration.

Like the Luke Weaver path, Blackburn transformed from a shaky starter to a trusted and valuable multi-inning reliever in pinstripes.

Blackburn added depth to his sinker, increased his changeup use, and posted a 1.69 ERA in 62 appearances during his free agent walk year.

Given the uncertainty about Fernando Cruz’s partially torn UCL, a reunion with Blackburn should be on the Yanks’ winter list.

3. Adrian Morejon

Position: Relief pitcher

Or the Yankees could make a higher priority of this setup lefty.

Morejon’s durable profile and high-octane arsenal could create a competitive market among contenders seeking both elite multi-inning relievers and closers.

Over the past three seasons in San Diego, Morejon has averaged 70 appearances, and a 2.58 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings.

With the swing-and-miss ability from his sinker/slider/changeup/four-seam fastball mix is an elite groundball rate (58 percent this year).

Given Brent Headrick’s overuse in a breakout season, the Yanks could use another significant lefty bullpen presence.

2. Teruaki Sato

Position: Third base

We've just entered a shortened window for posted Nippon Professional Baseball League players to negotiate with MLB clubs.

As USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Monday, the players union is unhappy with MLB's decision not to extend the 45-day negotiating period.

That means Japanese stars like Sato and right-handed pitchers Kaima Taira and Hiromi Itoh must sign by Dec. 1, or else forfeit the opportunity to play in the majors in 2027.

Third baseman Ryan McMahon has one year and $16 million remaining on his contract, but he's a trade candidate (along with 1B-2B-DH Luis Garcia Jr., a fellow lefty hitter) and Sato is a possible target.

The lefty-hitting Sato, 27, is coming off a Triple Crown NPBL season in 2026, batting .306 with 39 homers and 106 RBI.

But some scouting reports on Sato's defense suggest he's more suitable as an outfielder or first baseman in the majors, creating an added dilemma for the Yanks.

1. David Bednar

Position: Closer

Unlike fellow Yankees free agent Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Yanks extended Bednar the $23.15 million qualifying offer in hopes of keeping him for 2017 or signing him to a multi-year deal.

Players who receive the QO have a week to decide whether to decline or accept; taking the offer creates a one-year contract for the upcoming season, as Trent Grisham chose last year.

Over his year-and-a-half in pinstripes, Bednar, 32, has proven himself to be durable and largely drama-free, posting a 1.30 ERA over his last 43 appearances in 2026.

Additionally, you could see the Yankees attempting to reunite with free agent relievers John Schreiber and Ryan Yarbrough, who each made both playoff rosters in 2026.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees free agent targets for 2027: 5 players for Bombers to pursue

Sometimes, a celebration can go a bit too far.

In the midst of the Milwaukee Brewers winning their first World Series title in franchise history, manager Pat Murphy and slugger Jake Bauers shook hands on the field and bashed his former team, the Yankees, not thinking the audio would get out for the internet to hear.

Upon learning that everyone heard his comments about the Yanks, Murphy said he called general manager Brian Cashman to clear the air.

“I called Brian Cashman right away when I heard it got out,” Murphy said on The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman. 

"I heard the next morning, we were at the parade, and everybody was talking about it. I was like, 'What, how did they hear that?' You know, like, hot mic. And I'm like, whatever. So I picked up a phone and called Brian right away and had a good conversation. And the best I could try to explain that I wasn’t talking about the 2026 Yankees."

When talking to Bauers, who played for New York in 2023, Murphy called the first baseman's former team "horses--t" and that the clubhouse mindset was much different from Milwaukee's vibe.

"You're gonna be a rich fu--er," Murphy said. "Just remember when you were on that horses--t Yankees team, you guys were all playing for yourself? Just remember, say, 'this is the way we used to do it.'"

Murphy clarified on the podcast Tuesday that his and Bauers relationship is unique, as they have consistently celebrated together after playoff wins and joked about him playing so well the Brewers won't be able to pay him in free agency. 

"After every celebration, I’d shake his hand. I’d say, 'You rich so and so, you’re going to leave us,'" Murphy explained. "We’re not going to be able to pay you. You’re going to leave us and you’re going to forget all about how we did things. … I would just give him this rhetoric every time."

Murphy added on the Yankees: "I was just referring to the teams that have a lot of high-paid long-contract players. That sometimes it’s harder to get all those guys together to play together. And I used the Yankees because I knew Jake was with them before. … I regret saying it, but that was Jake and I’s humor behind the scenes and I got caught."

The skipper made it known he felt bad for his comments being made public and referred to Cashman as "such a good guy" who's very "levelheaded."

"I wish I had his demeanor and his way of handling things," Murphy said. "I felt horribly if I slandered the Yankees because I was just kind of referring to them as this kind of iconic machine that maybe isn't -- I don't know, maybe it's just an easy way to refer to it."

MLB owners are willing to wait an additional year on a key proposed element of the next collective bargaining agreement.

The league has proposed postponing a salary cap and floor until the 2028 season, as the CBA nears expiration on Dec. 1.

“Starting in 2028 would allow a smoother transition into the scale and floor system without delaying key player benefits,” MLB posted on social media.

The proposal calls for a cap of $258.2 million that no club can exceed. Under that proposal eight teams, including the Mets and Yankees, would have to shed significant dollars from their payrolls (per 2026 figures). 

According to Spotrac, the Mets led MLB last season with a $346.7 million payroll. The Yankees were third at $308.3 million.

The proposal calls for a salary floor of $180.2 million that all clubs must meet. Last season, 12 teams were below that figure, with Guardians last at $74.5 million, according to Spotrac.

MLB said the 12 clubs under the proposed threshold would have increase payroll by a combined $636 million. The eight teams over the proposed threshold would have to shed $528 million in payroll, according to MLB.

“The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all,” MLB’s statement said. 

The players’ association has voiced vehement opposition to the implementation of a salary cap, leaving the two sides headed toward a December lockout.

MLB said it’s also willing to accept the players’ association proposal that players at least 30 years old can become free agents after five years of service rather than having to complete a sixth.

Also, MLB has indicated it is willing to eliminate the qualifying offer – as the players’ association has proposed. Under the current system a team signing a player that receives the qualifying offer must surrender a draft pick. The players’ association has long maintained that such a system suppresses a free agent’s value.

Under MLB’s proposal the league minimum salary would be raised from $780,000 to $1.5 million. The pre-arbitration bonus pool, which currently stands at $50 million, would be raised to $180 million.

Major League Baseball on Tuesday revealed portions of its labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association, four weeks before the current collective bargaining agreement expires. Chief among the changes in the latest proposal is not implementing a salary cap until the 2028 season, making 2027 a year of transition.

MLB’s latest proposal called for a salary cap of $258.2 million, with a salary floor of $180.2 million. MLB’s previous proposal with actual numbers, on June 25, including a salary cap of $245.3 million in 2027 and a floor of $171.2 million.

Using competitive balance tax payroll for 2026, the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, Padres, and Red Sox all spent more than that.

Twelve teams — the Marlins, Brewers, Guardians, Cardinals, Rays, Nationals, White Sox, Twins, Rockies, Pirates, A’s, and Reds — were this year all under that proposed $180.2 million floor. MLB says the additional spending by those 12 teams to reach the floor would add a combined $636 million in salaries, while the eight teams cutting spending to get under the proposed cap would subtract $528 million, for a net gain of at least $108 million.

Considering the total competitive balance tax payrolls in 2025 for all 30 teams were just over $6.06 billion, and this year’s were undoubtedly higher, a $108 million increase by 2028 is less than a two-percent increase over three years earlier. It would require other teams to spend more than just reaching the floor for the players to realize any real gain, especially compared to revenues in the sport.

Understandably, the Players Association does not think this proposal does enough. In a statement from the MLBPA:

Despite MLB’s proposal to delay implementation to 2028, at its core, the negative impacts of the owners’ salary cap remain the same:

-Massive reduction in player compensation

-Elimination of fundamental player rights, including guaranteed contracts

-Gutting of domestic and international amateur entry systems

-Replacement of market-based fundamentals with a zero-sum system that harms the middle class and pits player against player

“Even with a so-called ‘transition year’ in 2027,” MLBPA’s statement continued, “The owners’ latest offer would result in rejection of dozens of player proposals on issues from minimum salaries to revenue sharing to rosters and transactions, and many more; immediate restrictions to player contract rights; stagnant luxury tax thresholds; a $400M reduction in amateur signing bonuses, stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams.”

Other parts of MLB’s proposal

Tuesday’s proposal by MLB owners also would increase the minimum salary in 2027 to $1 million for players with at least two years of service time, and $900,000 minimum for players with fewer than two years. Dodgers not yet eligible for arbitration with two years of service time include Bobby Miller, Kyle Hurt, Ben Caparius, Jack Dreyer, and Roki Sasaki.

MLB says the 28.2-percent increase over the 2026 minimum salary of $780,000 would be the largest year-over-year increase in league history. In our offseason roster breakdown in October, we looked at previous recent CBAs, with the 22.7-percent increase from 2021 ($570,500) to 2022 ($700,000) the previous high.

MLB as part of its proposal accepted two items the Players Association proposed in May — the elimination of the qualifying offer and thus draft pick compensation for losing free agents; and allowing players age 30 or older to reach free agency with five years of service time instead of six, with the caveat that clubs have the right to sign said player for that sixth year at an average of the top 125 salaries for the previous year (that’s how the qualifying offer is currently calculated).

Owners also proposed reducing the number of times a player can be optioned to the minors within one season from five to four, and the elimination of the current fourth-option-year rule. The rule as currently stated is this:

Players typically have three option years, but those who have accrued less than five full seasons (including both the Major and Minors) are eligible for a fourth if their three options have been exhausted already. For the purposes of this rule, spending at least 90 days on an active Major League or Minor League roster during a given season counts as one full season. Players also earn a full season if they spend at least 30 days on an active Major League or Minor League roster AND their active-roster and injured-list time amounts to at least 90 days in a given season.

Brock Stewart, who was drafted in 2014, used his fourth option year in 2019, for instance.

MLB in previous negotiations this year proposed the idea of weekly rosters, and in its proposal on Tuesday added language prohibiting optioning or outrighting a player during the week, and also restrictions on a team being able to continually cycle a player on and off the 40-man and active rosters throughout the season. This is to combat roster churn, something we saw with the Dodgers in 2026 with both Jonathan Hernández (sent outright to minors three different times, signed twice by Los Angeles during the season) and Charlie Barnes (sent outright to minors three times, optioned three other times), among others.

MLB proposed a few tweaks to the current Rule 5 Draft setup, including making players eligible for the Rule 5 Draft one year earlier than presently. The also proposed allowing teams who select players in the Rule 5 Draft be able to option said players to the minors immediately, which would encourage teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect from losing them.

“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system. Therefore, with this offseason already underway, we proposed today to begin the cap and floor systemin 2028. This proposal would allow a smoother transition into the cap and floor system without delaying key player benefits, including earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary, a 30% increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool, and transactional reform that will reduce roster churn,” MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said in a statement. “The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all.”

“Coming off another incredible season of baseball, MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values,” the Players Association said in a statement. “Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike.”