The Yankees on Wednesday signed an incumbent player — a returnee — and that is never going to draw a standing ovation from fans looking for something new and exciting. But Cody Bellinger is the absolute right move and right guy for the Yankees, who should be vastly improved without doing anything dramatic or even especially different all winter.

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Yankees fans are understandably focused on the idea that the 2025 Yankees ultimately didn’t get the job done, at least not by the standard George Steinbrenner invented for his franchise. The faithful recall that they were blown away by the eventual American League champion Toronto Blue Jays in the division series, and surely wonder why things might change with similar players in an encore season.

The Blue Jays stand as one of the most obvious winter winners, even if Kyle Tucker didn’t take their $350 million, 10-year offer. They have new, headline-grabbing talent (Dylan Cease, Kazuma Okamoto, Cody Ponce, etc.), and there’s no reason they won’t improve on the 94-win team that came within inches of beating the impossibly good Dodgers in one of the most scintillating World Series in years.

The Yankees, who also won 94 regular-season games, look very much the same to many, if not most. But take a closer look and realize that isn’t close to the case. They should be one of the most improved teams in the game, too, even without a single show-stopping deal.