Moving Forward
The Brilliant Dance of Moving on from Juan Soto
There is no way to make light of Juan Soto’s departure from the Yankees for the Mets to the tune of $765 million over 15 years, not deferred, with the possibility of the contract’s value reaching $805 million. It leaves a hole in the Yankee lineup that is impossible to replace, whether one-to-one or in the aggregate. Not one of the potential replacements or any collection of them can come close to replicating what Soto produces in a total offensive package. But there’s no much use in wallowing. Bury the clothes, burn the letters, and just walk past the fist-dented plaster. Move on and build a roster.
As Randy stated on the emergency podcast in the wake of Soto’s signing late Sunday night, the Yankees ought to shift their focus—in terms of free agent dollars—towards run prevention. I agreed with him then, and evidently, so did the Yankees. I’m writing this immediately after they signed Max Fried to the largest guaranteed contract given to a left handed pitcher in MLB history. This is the direction in which the Yankees should keep moving with regards to their free agent spending.
Undoubtedly, any of the four big remaining free agents on the hitters’ side of things—first basemen Christian Walker and Pete Alonso and outfielders Teoscar Hernández and Anthony Santander—would represent upgrades over what the Yankees currently have at their positions of need. However, all four of them have warts that make me and should make the Yankees wary of committing big money over the long term to each of them. To varying degrees, all four are on the wrong side of 30 and it wouldn’t be an outrageous statement to say that their best years are likely behind them. Three of the four are also right handed and we’ve seen what happens when the Yankees load up on righties, especially when it comes to the playoffs. And while the non-right handed hitter, Santander, is a switch hitter—very desirable!—he’s also very one-dimensional; sure, his power would help replace what was lost in Soto, but the rest of his offensive would fall short and need to be augmented with other acquisitions, such as trades.
The trade market is where the Yankees should shift their focus now when it comes to improving the lineup. Perhaps they can pry Seiya Suzuki or Cody Bellinger from the Cubs. Perhaps they achieve a pipe dream and snag Kyle Tucker from the Astros. Perhaps it’s some other trade I haven’t yet thought about or have no idea can happen. Regardless, there are more palatable options on the trade market—even if they aren’t perfect—than there are on the free agent market…with one exception.
The loss of Soto has rightfully focused us on the gap left in the outfield. However, the Yankee infield is, as currently constructed, untenable. A remedy to that would be re-signing Gleyber Torres. This is, at present, a tall hurdle to be cleared. There are fences to be mended. Whatever metaphor you want to use, use it. However, Torres would likely cost less than one of the free agent options at the other positions of need and offers a bit less potential volatility. It helps that he’s also going to be only 28 on Opening Day, as opposed to over 30. I will readily admit that the upside of the aforementioned players might be higher than that of Torres, but Torres is younger, will cost less in terms of money, and plays a much more premium position.
The loss of Juan Soto is incredible, starving, insatiable, but it is not the end. The Yankees have plenty of options to recover and move forward. Signing Fried is the first step; hopefully, many more will follow.