Around the Empire: Yankees news - 10/6/23

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: For all the positives about Anthony Volpe’s defense and baserunning, the shortstop will likely not end up a Rookie of the Year finalist, and there are holes to close in his game especially at the plate. For the optimistic, you can point to Volpe’s track record of improvement at every MiLB level and his rebuild of a swing that at the time was not major league caliber. It’s up to him to make the biggest adjustment of all in 2024 and build off of what positives did exist in his rookie campaign.

SNY | John Harper: There’s a tremendous amount of ambiguity about the Yankees’ offseason plan, but the one player that may make the most sense in free agency is former MVP Cody Bellinger. Belli finished the year with a 134 wRC+ and 4.1 fWAR for the Cubs, which would have made him the second-best position player on the Yankees this year. Although the left fielder will command one of the larger contracts on the open market this year, the Yankees have had a desperate need for left handed power for some time now.

NJ.com | Max Goodman: Austin Wells garnered praise from almost the entire Yankee pitching staff after his first month in the big leagues, but he knows he has more work to do. To get a head start on the offseason, the prospective Yankee starting catcher plans to get down to the org complex in Tampa by November, using the extra time for more work with the club’s catching coaches.

Yahoo! Sports | Phillip Martinez: As we turn our attention to the offseason, aside from the above what are the top storylines facing the organization? The results of the much-ballyhooed internal investigation will likely set the course for this winter, but after that, deciding on the future of Gleyber Torres and how the Yankees will navigate the competitive balance thresholds will dominate the offseason talk.