In Nashville, next week, the winter meetings will begin, and several deals are expected to be finalized.

Teams have been having preliminary negotiations in the week leading up to the huge event, which is returning to Nashville for the first time since 2015, in an effort to set the stage for any potential signings or trades that may be announced during the event.

Two years had passed since the Yankees’ expenditure that brought in Masahiro Tanaka, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brian McCann from Japan. The Yankees acquired Starlin Castro from the Cubs, Chad Green and Luis Cessa from the Tigers, and an unidentified player from the other team at the 2015 edition of the meetings.

After suffering through an 82-win season that was more boring to watch than 2021 yet finished faster than before the pitch clock, the fandom is hoping for bigger things this year.

The most apparent option is to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a deal that would more than double Tanaka’s $155 million salary. Another consideration is the possibility of bringing in a middle infielder or even an outfielder to help out in left field and center.

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Depending on the perception of some of his advanced statistics by the front office, the Yankees’ feelings toward him might not be reciprocated, even though his metrics indicate an apparent fit.

Even if the Yankees disregard any criticism of the lack of analytical statistics, they might still be uneasy about another figure: his possible pay. Since Bellinger verified it using regular statistics, his compensation might go up to approximately $25 million from $17 million last season.