4 Yankees whose futures depend on promising 2025 postseason performances

When you play for the New York Yankees, the way you perform in October could change everything. Once the autumn chill hits the air and the bright lights come on, regular-season struggles can be forgiven if you come through in the clutch. On the flip side, even superstars can be derided if they fail to come through when it matters most.

The Yankees already have some big offseason decisions awaiting them that may be greatly impacted by playoff performances. So too might some of the more minor calls the club will need to make as they will eventually begin tinkering with the roster in order to put the best product on the field in 2026.

These four Yankees’ futures are tied to their playoff performances

Reliever Luke Weaver

Luke Weaver’s 2025 campaign has had more peaks and valleys than one could have imagined. A 2024 folk hero, Weaver, an impending free agent, once looked like a must to re-sign this offseason. He only furthered his case by coming out of the gate with 14 scoreless innings in the season’s first month.

He was dominant, though not to quite the same degree in May, and supplanted the struggling Devin Williams as the closer. Then, on a dime, he suffered a strained left hamstring in June, and the rollercoaster ride began.

A 7.15 ERA in 11.1 innings in July made it seem like perhaps Weaver was still feeling the effects of the hamstring, but concerns were alleviated in August with him posting a sterling 1.23 mark over 14.2 innings in the season’s dog days.

However, this past month, Weaver has completely imploded to the tune of a nauseating 10.80 ERA that has shaken everyone’s confidence in him.

Weaver arrived in New York, not as some dominant force, but rather as a failed starter who the Yankees revitalized into a versatile bullpen weapon. With that said, his track record isn’t quite long enough to excuse the extreme fluctuations in his 2025 performance as nothing to worry about.

Further complicating his impending free agency is his recently stated openness to going the Clay Holmes route once he hits the market. That alone might make the Yankees balk, but a strong playoff performance where he proves to be invaluable could make the Yankees throw the kind of cash at him that makes him feel comfortable working out of the bullpen in the Bronx for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, if he doesn’t turn around his September spiral once the calendar flips, he’ll quickly be issued a one-way ticket out of town.

The lefty-mashing bench duo of Austin Slater and Amed Rosario

With similar roles, these two trade deadline acquisitions will be in similar positions this offseason. Both Austin Slater and Amed Rosario were brought in to do one thing, and one thing alone: mash lefties.

For his career, Slater comes in at a .789 OPS against southpaws, while Rosario owns an .801 career mark. As has become customary for Yankee trade deadline additions, Austin Slater quickly wound up on the IL, and Amed Rosario joined him there in short order.

As a result, neither new face has gotten much playing time since arriving in the Bronx, with Slater tallying 13 games played and Rosario appearing in 15 contests. Their performance, however, has been drastically different in the opportunities they’ve had.

Slater has hit just .130/.130/.130 since joining the Yankees, while Rosario has posted a much more robust .323/.323/.516 mark. Despite the disparity in performance, it will matter little once the playoffs begin.

For Slater’s part, the Yankees face a complicated situation with their outfield beyond 2025. Likely, one of Cody Bellinger or Trent Grisham will stay, possibly both. Top prospect Spencer Jones may factor into the 2026 Opening Day roster calculations, and there’s also 22-year-old Jasson Dominguez, whose inconsistent rookie season might have some forgetting about his potential. There’s also some guy named Aaron Judge roaming out in right field, too.

The thing is, regardless of which parts stay, ascend, or go, the Yankees will have an extremely lefty-heavy outfield rotation. Both Grisham and Bellinger bat from the left side, though the latter owns a pretty ridiculous reverse platoon split. Jones is another left-handed bat that might get into the mix, and Dominguez is a switch-hitter who struggles mightily batting from the right side. Having another force that can handle left-handed pitching would be an underrated asset, but Slater will have to prove his worth to convince the Yankees he’s the man for the job.

As for Rosario, the situation is a little less complex. The utility man can factor into the outfield mix as well, potentially making him and Slater direct competitors. Moreover, Ryan McMahon’s .676 career OPS against lefties makes him clearly in need of a platoon partner at the hot corner, a role that Rosario could fill if he can convince the Yankees to bring him back with a strong playoff showing.

These guys might not have the most outsized roles, but in the postseason, where every matchup and every at-bat matters greatly, they’ll get their opportunities to prove that they belong as part of the 2026 plans.

Reliever Camilo Doval

After looking like a true trade deadline prize, Camilo Doval’s performance since the trade that brought him to New York has been one of the leading causes of the Yankee bullpen’s nightmarish performance in the second half.

Coming over from San Francisco with a 3.09 ERA, the 28-year-old right-hander has seen that number rise two full runs to 5.09 since donning pinstripes. With two more years of team control, Doval isn’t going to leave town this offseason, but his place on the 26-man roster might not be the most secure.

Doval has two options remaining, meaning the Yankees can send him down to the minors and make him regain their trust if they aren’t satisfied with his postseason performance. With a bullpen makeover surely coming down the pike, that’s a real possibility.

However, if Doval, who recently allowed zero runs in a crucial five-appearance stretch, can snap out of his funk and prove to be part of a reliable bridge to David Bednar throughout the club’s playoff run, there’s a chance he could get back into the good graces of the organization and prove that he belongs as one of the arms that will comprise the new-look pen.