The Yankees are still playing to keep their World Series title hopes alive, but whenever the offseason does officially arrive for Brian Cashman and company, the club will have 14 arbitration-eligible players.
Those players are: INF Jazz Chisholm Jr., RHP David Bednar, RHP Mark Leiter Jr., RHP Clarke Schmidt, RHP Camilo Doval, RHP Jake Cousins, RHP Ian Hamilton, RHP Luis Gil, RHP Scott Effross, RHP Jake Bird, INF/OF Oswaldo Cabrera, RHP Fernando Cruz, SS Anthony Volpe, and INF Jose Caballero.
Once a player is offered arbitration, the team and that player's agent have until a set date — usually at some point in February — to come to terms on a new contract. If that doesn't happen, both sides submit salary proposals and the player's salary is determined by independent arbitrators at a hearing.
A team can also offer arbitration to a player and then trade that player.
According to the MLB Trade Rumors algorithm that "looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation," here's what the Yankees' arbitration-eligible players are projected to make in 2026…
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.: $10.2 million
- David Bednar: $9 million
- Mark Leiter Jr.: $3 million
- Clarke Schmidt: $4.9 million
- Camilo Doval: $6.6 million
- Jake Cousins: $841,000
- Ian Hamilton:$941,000
- Luis Gil: $2.1 million
- Scott Effross: $800,000
- Jake Bird: $1 million
- Oswaldo Cabrera: $1.2 million
- Fernando Cruz: $1.3 million
- Anthony Volpe: $3.9 million
- Jose Caballero: $1.9 million
Tendering contracts to all 14 of those players, based on the projections, would add roughly $47.7 million to the Yankees' 2026 payroll. While players like Chisholm, Bednar, Volpe, and Gil are locks to be offered arbitration, pitchers like Cousins (coming off Tommy John surgery), Hamilton, Effross, and Bird, while relatively inexpensive, could be non-tender candidates.
As of now, the Yankees currently have about $166.2 million on the books for 2026, including Aaron Judge's $40 million and Gerrit Cole's $36 million — the club's two highest salaries.
Adding the full $47.7 million to that number would put the Yanks' 2026 payroll just under $214 million, but that's without including any potential free agent signings, with the Yankees having internal FAs like Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, and Devin Williams, among others.
The Yanks' 2025 end-of-year payroll was just under $300 million, and it's likely that they'll be right around that number again in 2026.
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