YANKEES EYE TOMMY PHAM: THE SCRAPPY VETERAN WHO COULD REPLACE CODY BELLINGER IN LEFT
The Yankees are considering Tommy Pham and Austin Hays as Cody Bellinger alternatives. We analyze the stats and clubhouse impact.
The Yankees eye Tommy Pham as a backup if Bellinger signs elsewhere.
The Yankees are making backup plans in case Cody Bellinger heads somewhere else this offseason. Bellinger’s one of the hottest free agents out there right now—lots of teams want him—but nobody’s locked him down yet. He’s still the Yankees’ top choice, but they haven’t made a deal, so they’re looking at other options just in case.
If Bellinger slips away, Yankees insider Brendan Kuty from The Athletic says the team might turn to Tommy Pham as a replacement. Austin Hays is another name in the mix. He’s a free agent, too and could share time with Jasson Domínguez. Last season, Hays hit .319 with two home runs and a .949 OPS against lefties in 105 plate appearances. For his career, he’s got a .819 OPS versus lefties. Pham’s also a free agent and owns a career .802 OPS against lefties.
Pham would be a bit of a curveball for the Yankees. He’d probably end up in a platoon with Domínguez or Spencer Jones. And let’s be honest, Pham’s got a reputation—he’s been in plenty of on-field dust-ups and has made headlines on social media. It’s not clear if the Yankees want that kind of drama in the clubhouse.
But the guy can still play. Last year with the Pirates, Pham hit .245 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. He’s also got playoff experience—37 games under his belt.
And Pham doesn’t shy away from confrontation. Remember last season against the Blue Jays? After a walk, he flipped his bat and chirped at catcher Tyler Heineman, thinking Heineman said something to him. Heineman later said it was all just weird and unprovoked. Pham fired back online, saying it was disrespectful for Heineman to question the umpire’s strike zone, calling him out publicly. Blue Jays fans can’t stand him now, so honestly, he might fit right in with the Yankees.
On the Bellinger front, the Yankees haven’t given up. They even put a second offer on the table. According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees are also talking to the Marlins about pitcher Edward Cabrera. The thinking is, if they know Bellinger’s coming back to play left field—Grisham in centre, Judge in right—it’d be easier to trade away Domínguez or Jones for pitching help.
Cabrera ended up getting traded to the Cubs, but that’s not the end of the story. The Yankees are probably still looking for another starter, but first, they need to figure out if Bellinger is coming to New York or not. That’s the domino that needs to fall before the rest of the offseason moves can happen.
YANKEES DEBUT ALERT: LEFT-HANDER RYAN WEATHERS OFFICIALLY STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT AGAINST THE NATIONALS
Bronx debut: Discover how Ryan Weathers' new "bullet slider" and 97 MPH heat will lead the Yankees against the Nationals tomorrow.
Ryan Weathers is set to make his Yankees debut on the mound tomorrow night, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. The lefty will face a familiar team in the Nationals; he saw plenty of them back when he pitched for the Marlins in the NL East. The Yankees are still getting their starting pitchers ready for the 2026 season, so this outing gives them a chance to see what Weathers can do.
They picked up Weathers from Miami this offseason. He’s only 26, but he’s already been busy trying to sharpen his game. He's been working on a new two-seam fastball and a tighter bullet slider, hoping to finally show why he was once the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Before that, though, the Yankees take on Toronto today at 1:07 PM EST. Will Warren gets the start, and both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are in the lineup.
Now, back to Weathers. Last year with the Marlins, he made eight starts and put up a 3.99 ERA, striking out over 22% of the batters he faced. The Yankees believe he has even more to offer. They’re betting that these new pitches, a better two-seamer and a firmer slider, will help him take that next step.
He throws hard; his fastball averaged 96.8 MPH last season, which got plenty of teams interested. The upside is real, but so is the risk. Injuries have slowed him down the last couple of years, cutting short what could have been breakout seasons.
First, Weathers has to prove he can stay healthy. Then, he needs to show that these tweaks to his pitch mix can help him avoid the hard contact that led to seven home runs allowed in just 38.1 innings last season. The Yankees are betting on his talent, though, and they see him as a possible future star in their rotation.
Tomorrow’s game is at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it’ll be the Yankees’ first night game of the 2026 Grapefruit League, starting at 6:35 PM EST.
OLYMPIC FAMILY LEGACY: INSIDE TOM BRADY’S PLAN TO TURN VIVIAN INTO A SUPERSTAR OLYMPIAN
Sports news: Tom Brady's Olympic dream. Get the report on Vivian’s volleyball talent and Team USA’s wins in Milan.
Tom Brady, now retired and a seven-time Super Bowl champ, took his kids, Benjamin and Vivia,n to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics. They spent the week soaking up the city, meeting new faces, and cheering for Team USA on the ice. The real rush came on Thursday; the USA’s women’s hockey team pulled off a wild comeback against Canada, winning 2-1 in overtime. Megan Keller scored the game-winner, and Brady got to watch it all unfold right next to tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Four days later, the men’s team kept the momentum going. Jack Hughes scored another overtime winner against Canada on Sunday. You’d think that would be the biggest story from the Bradys’ trip, but no, what really got people talking was something way more personal.
Tom posted a sweet shoutout to his daughter Vivian on Instagram. Just after all the Olympic action, he shared a photo of 13-year-old Vivian, captioning it: “Future summer Olympian” with a string of volleyball emojis. Fans immediately caught on that Brady wasn’t just being a proud dad; he was dropping a real hint.
Vivian, whom he shares with Gisele Bündchen, already plays volleyball at school. She swims and plays soccer, too. What’s cool is that every sport she loves is a Summer Olympics event. Brady’s caption didn’t feel random; it felt like he meant it.
And this isn’t their first Olympic adventure together. Brady and Vivian hit up the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and packed their days with nine different events: gymnastics, beach volleyball, swimming, and diving. Vivian even got to play some volleyball on the sand with Brazilian legend Juliana Felisberta da Silva.
After seeing all the winter action in Italy, Brady’s “summer Olympian” tag for Vivian sounds even more hopeful. He knows exactly where he sees her going.
With the Olympics set to land in Los Angeles in 2028, Vivian will be 15 when the Games kick off in July. Club volleyball is probably her next step. And Brady himself? He’s hinted he’s got his own Olympic goals for 2028, turning the dream into a full-on family mission.
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