New York Yankees Wouldn't Do This to Ben Rice, Would They?

It hasn't taken long for Ben Rice to establish himself as one of the New York Yankees' top sluggers, and perhaps one of the best hitters in all of baseball.

Rice became a full-time starter in 2025, rotating between first base, catcher and designated hitter. That year, he slashed .255/.337/.499 with 26 home runs and 65 RBI over 530 plate appearances.

Then, in 2026, Rice broke out entirely, smashing 41 homers to go along with an .897 OPS en route to his first All-Star appearance.

Additionally, Rice was one of the only Yankee sluggers to show up in the playoffs, managing four long balls for New York in the this postseason.

At 27 years old, Rice is a bit of a late bloomer, but there is no question he has a bright future in the Bronx ... or does he?

Joel Sherman of The New York Post recently wondered aloud about Hal Steinbrenner's strategy if and when a salary cap is introduced, which would then likely result in players hitting free agency after five years of service time instead of six.

Sherman noted that both Rice and Cam Schlittler would then be a year closer to free agency, and with Sherman revealing that Steinbrenner "badly" wants a salary cap, he theorized that Steinbrenner might already be planning to use the cap as an excuse not to sign either of Rice nor Schlittler long term.

That seems unfathomable for the Yankees, an organization that has traditionally always kept its homegrown talent when it so desired.

But we could be entering a new era of baseball starting in 2027, and that could even affect the way business is conducted on River Avenue.

We've already seen Steinbrenner attempt to cut back on spending, like last offseason when his only significant splash was re-signing Cody Bellinger. The Yankees also traded for Ryan Weathers, but as far as big-money moves, Bellinger was it.

Slowly but surely, Steinbrenner could be prepping the fanbase for a very different strategy moving forward, something that will be completely foreign to a group of fanatics that has seen its franchise dominate the free-agent landscape for so long.

But not only is it a possibility that the Yankees will fade into the background (relatively speaking) when it comes acquiring new pieces, but there might even be a chance they won't have such a sense of urgency to retain their own stars.

It seems hard to believe, but at this point, you never know.