Yankees Predicted to Regress in 2026

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The heat is on Aaron Judge and the Yankees this year.

The New York Yankees, as they do just about every MLB season, have large expectations for the 2026 season. While they didn’t make a bunch of impactful moves during the offseason, New York will welcome back starter Gerrit Cole at some point in the early going of the season.

Despite running it back with pretty much the same cast of characters (Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham), Bleacher Report predicts that the Yankees will regress in 2026, and it’s not even exactly a big slight due to the beast that is the AL East.

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Will the Yankees Win 94 Games in 2026?

GettyThe heat is on Aaron Judge and the Yankees this year.

The Yankees finished the 2025 season with a 94-68 record, but the AL East division crown went to the Toronto Blue Jays, who had the exact same record.

After beating the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card round, New York was throttled and eliminated by the Blue Jays in the division series. With the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Yankees all being firm contenders, the AL East will remain the most exciting division in baseball. On top of that, the Baltimore Orioles spent about $250 million in MLB free agency this offseason and are looking to contend as well.

Here is the reasoning Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly predicts that the Yankees will have fewer than 94 wins next season:

“If you’re looking for some reasons to be concerned about the Yankees, there are injury questions in their starting rotation, with Gerrit Cole returning from Tommy John surgery, Carlos Rodón having offseason surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow and former AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, well, always an uncertain health proposition.”

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Will the Yankees Win the AL East?

It’s extremely hard in Major League Baseball to reach the century win mark, but considering the Yankees won 94 games last season without Gerrit Cole, and even Aaron Judge missed a few weeks with an elbow injury, there’s a case to be made that the Yankees are actually better on paper heading into this season.

Anthony Volpe will also be sidelined to start the season, but with New York’s main cast of characters (except Cole) all ready to go for Opening Day, this Yankees team will have something to say about the Blue Jays being favorites to win the AL East.

Now, of course, Toronto just advanced to the World Series, but they also lost Bo Bichette in the process. The Blue Jays will have one of the better pitching staffs in the league, but after Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Alejandro Kirk, who really is all that scary in the Blue Jays lineup?

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