The Knicks aren’t the only New York team throwing it back to the 1990s.
While the Orange and Blue prepares to play in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, the Yankees are echoing the blueprint of the dynasty that won four titles in five years starting in ’96.
Perhaps no franchise has been as synonymous with free-agent spending since the system as we know it today was implemented in 1976. However, those late-1990s Yankees teams were built differently, with a collection of homegrown stars -- Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada -- as their centerpiece.
Something similar may be brewing in 2026.
As usual, Aaron Judge has been a huge part of the Yankees’ success. But he hasn’t done it alone. He’s had a lot of help from Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice, both of whom are products of the Yankees’ farm system just like Judge.
Yankees' WAR leaders, 2026
Per FanGraphs
1. Cam Schlittler: 2.9
2. Aaron Judge: 2.3
3-T. Ben Rice: 2.2
3-T. Cody Bellinger: 2.2
5. Max Fried: 1.9
For the Bronx Bombers, it’s a bit of a divergence from what’s happened in recent years. The Yankees may have envisioned having a core of homegrown players who could grow alongside Judge, but Gary Sánchez, Gleyber Torres and Luis Severino never fulfilled that promise, and the next wave of prospects -- Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Jasson Domínguez -- has yet to produce a star.
As a result, the Yankees had to lean heavily on free-agent signings like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried and trade acquisitions like Juan Soto, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton to support Judge, who is now in his 11th season.
This year, however, Schlittler and Rice have emerged as genuine difference-makers at a time when many of the Yankees' outside acquisitions have struggled to hold up their end.
Bellinger (2.2 WAR) has been a bright spot, but Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon have combined for just 2.1 WAR. Meanwhile, Cole and Rodón have made only five starts combined after beginning the season on the IL, and Fried is currently sidelined with a left elbow bone bruise.
Which raises a question: when is the last time the Yankees have had three homegrown players carrying this much of the load?
To find out, we went back through every Yankees season since the advent of free agency in 1976 and looked for years when the club had three or more homegrown players finishing with at least 5 WAR apiece. Judge, Schlittler and Rice are all currently on track to easily clear that threshold, so it seemed like a good place to start.
The answer? They’ve only had one such season in that span -- 2003, when Posada, Pettitte and Alfonso Soriano all produced more than 5 WAR. New York also came close the previous year, but Williams finished with 4.9 WAR behind Soriano with 5.6 and Jeter with 5.2.
Even if we lower the minimum to 4 WAR, there aren’t many Yankees seasons that qualify. In fact, none of the four championship seasons from 1996-2000 made the cut, although the core players responsible for those titles appear throughout the list in other years.
Seasons Yankees had three or more homegrown players with 4+ fWAR
Since 1976 (start of free agency)
2017: Judge (8.7), Severino (5.6), Sánchez (4.1)
2007: Posada (5.6), Robinson Canó (4.7), Pettitte (4.0)
2003: Posada (6.0), Soriano (5.1), Pettitte (5.1), Jeter (4.1)
2002: Soriano (5.6), Jeter (5.2), Williams (4.9)
2001: Pettitte (5.8), Williams (4.8), Jeter (4.2)
1997: Pettitte (7.2), Williams (5.1), Jeter (4.0)
The Yankees' farm system turned out a handful of stars over the first 20 years of free agency, from Ron Guidry to Thurman Munson to Don Mattingly, but it wasn't until the Jeter era that the pipeline produced enough impact players simultaneously to consistently clear this threshold. That run extended into the mid-2000s before going largely dormant, with a few exceptions.
However, for the first time in a long time, the Yankees have a roster anchored by a collection of elite homegrown players.
At the very least, Judge, Schlittler and Rice seem likely to join the list above. And if they finish where they're currently trending, with all three on pace for more than 6 WAR, they would do something no homegrown Yankees trio has done in the free-agency era.
Of course, in the Bronx, individual milestones are just a means to an end. The last time the Yankees had a homegrown core this good, they won four World Series championships in five years. For Judge, Schlittler and Rice to join that company in the truest sense, they'll need to deliver title No. 28.