Life with out Juan Soto begins for the New York Yankees. Soto, who put collectively a career-best season with the Yankees in 2024, has agreed to an enormous 15-year contract value $765 million with the New York Mets. The Yankees had been reportedly in it till the top, providing 16 years and $760 million, however Soto departed for the extra profitable pastures of Flushing.
Losing Soto is a devastating blow and now the Yankees should determine a solution to change a participant who’s irreplaceable. MLB’s Winter Meeting start in earnest Monday in Dallas. Free brokers are wanting to signal and commerce companions are able to do enterprise. There is not any time for the Yankees to really feel sorry for themselves. They should start choosing up the items post-Soto instantly.
With that in thoughts, here is what the Soto-less Yankees should do between now and Opening Day, in no explicit order.
1. Get a primary baseman (and one other infielder)
The Yankees acquired a number of the worst first-base manufacturing in franchise historical past in 2024. Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Ben Rice, and some others mixed to hit .216/.284/.335 with 16 residence runs this previous season. Yankees’ first basemen didn’t hit a single residence run after July 31. Sixty-six straight homerless video games to finish 2024, postseason included. Good gravy.
The excellent news is the bar is on the ground, and it should not be tough to improve first base. Going from their 2024 first basemen to even a league-average first baseman in 2025 would add a number of wins to New York’s ledger, and there is a probability so as to add rather more than a league-average first baseman this winter. Here are the highest free-agent first baseman by FanGraphs’ projected 2025 WAR:
- Pete Alonso: 2.6 WAR
- Christian Walker: 2.4 WAR
- Paul Goldschmidt: 1.7 WAR
- Josh Bell: 1.0 WAR
- Carlos Santana: 0.9 WAR
Goldschmidt simply turned 37 and Santana will flip 39 in April, so there’s threat there. Walker will flip 34 in March and he carries age-related threat as nicely, although he had a robust 2024 season and is possibly the perfect defensive first baseman within the recreation. I’m unsure the Yankees have the urge for food for a big-money long-term deal for Alonso, however he is obtainable.
Trade candidates contains Yandy Díaz (Tampa Bay Rays), LaMonte Wade Jr. (San Francisco Giants), Josh Naylor (Cleveland Guardians), and maybe Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies). Bohm has performed first base and the Yankees had curiosity in Díaz on the commerce deadline. They’ve been linked to Walker in current weeks too. There is not any scarcity of viable candidates.
Point is, getting a giant first-base bat is the only greatest roster improve the Yankees can realistically make this offseason. It seems like a should with Soto gone. The Yankees want a second or third baseman too (Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play the opposite place). First base is a spot so as to add a giant bat. Second or third base must be addressed as nicely.
2. Get an outfielder
The silver lining (if you happen to can name it that) of Soto leaving is the Yankees can transfer Aaron Judge again to proper subject, his pure place, and never drive him to run round heart subject in his age-33 season. Don’t get me flawed, the Yankees would slightly have Soto and be compelled to play Judge in heart (I’m guessing Judge would favor that too), however not less than now they will play their captain at his finest place.
Judge in proper nonetheless leaves heart and left fields open. The Yankees may plug prime prospect Jasson Domínguez in at both place, and so they have two-time Gold Glover Trent Grisham on the roster, however with Soto gone, the Yankees want offense, and bringing in an outfielder to exchange him looks like a no brainer. As proficient as Domínguez is, him as your second-best outfielder ain’t nice.
Teoscar Hernández and Anthony Santander at the moment are the highest unsigned free-agent outfielders, and each staff that missed out on Soto figures to pivot to them, together with the Yankees. Rather than pay them huge bucks nicely into their 30s, the Yankees may flip to the commerce market. Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs) is unquestionably obtainable. Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago White Sox) appears to be as nicely and there is extra there than his current numbers would recommend.
The Yankees have been linked to Bellinger regularly the final yr or so and, on paper, he matches their Soto-less roster nicely. He can play heart subject and first base, he is a lefty bat, and he provides some a lot wanted athleticism and baserunning. Bellinger is owed $27.5 million in 2025, with a $5 million buyout for 2026, so maybe meaning you will not have to surrender a lot expertise to get him. It’s value a name at this level.
This is fairly easy. The Yankees had two common outfielders develop into free brokers this offseason (Soto and Alex Verdugo) and, even when they’re prepared to show Domínguez free, they have to change not less than one. There is not any changing Soto. All the Yankees can do now’s enhance as many roster spots as doable. First base and heart/left subject are the spots to do it.
3. Create a extra balanced staff
With Soto gone, I believe we will hear plenty of “the Yankees can now construct a extra balanced roster and higher defensive staff,” which is true, however can also be one thing they may have achieved even after re-signing Soto. But I digress.
There is not any denying the Yankees want extra steadiness. Chisholm and catcher Austin Wells are their solely left-handed hitters of notice (and also you sort of want lefty bats in Yankee Stadium) and so they’re a painfully gradual and poor baserunning staff. You dwell with Soto’s lack of defensive and baserunning worth to get the immense offense. With different gamers, not a lot.
As the Yankees got down to improve first base, second or third base, and the outfield, these are issues they want to remember. They want one other left-handed hitter or two, they want higher defenders, and higher baserunning can be good too. Few gamers are going to verify each field. The Yankees simply must verify as many as they will alongside the best way.
4. Rebuild the bullpen
New York’s prime three setup relievers all turned free brokers this offseason: Tim Hill, Clay Holmes (who can also be heading to the Mets), and Tommy Kahnle. The Yankees have been superb at turning non-roster invitees and waiver claims and scrap heap pickups into high quality relievers, and so they’ll must do it once more this offseason. As current, their bullpen seems like this:
Brubaker and Effross have not been wholesome and efficient in two years, Leiter was not good after coming over on the commerce deadline, and Beeter and Gomez are unproven prospects. The Yankees have a transparent want for not less than another high-leverage arm, and I’d argue they want three extra given the bullpen-centric nature of the sport immediately. They additionally want a lefty or two.
On paper, the Yankees have six starters for 5 rotation spots (Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman), which is a necessity and never a luxurious. They may definitely add a starter and enhance the rotation, although it’s not as crucial as including to the bullpen. That aid crew presently seems like one the shakiest within the recreation. Upgrades are a should.
5. Start successful again the followers
The natives are stressed. They’ve been stressed since lengthy earlier than the Yankees let Soto get away as a free agent too. The 2021, 2022, and 2024 seasons performed out the identical method (the Yankees wen 82-80 and missed the postseason in 2023):
- Start the common season very nicely, enter the “finest staff in baseball” dialog
- Struggle at midseason and grind to the end line
- Beat an AL Central staff (or two) within the postseason
- Get eradicated by a big-market staff that operates the identical method, solely higher
Typically the Houston Astros have completed the eliminating. This yr it was the Los Angeles Dodgers within the World Series. Point is, after watching season after season play out the identical method, it will get tiresome, and Yankees followers are operating out persistence. Losing Soto on prime of that’s the sort of factor that may push folks to cancel season tickets, purchase one fewer jersey, and so forth. Forget not gaining followers; that is the way you lose followers.
The Yankees are immensely common and do not must work all that tough to promote out Yankee Stadium. They do not do a complete lot to domesticate followers. They have not had a fan fest or winter caravan or no matter you wish to name it in years. When they’ve a giveaway, there are 18,000 of them for a stadium that seats 46,000 folks, and it is a nightmare to get into the ballpark to get the giveaway.
There is not any making up for shedding Soto. Beyond his manufacturing, he was immensely common — the most important Dominican star within the recreation spent 2024 taking part in in entrance of the biggest Dominican group within the nation within the Bronx — and followers will not be glad he is been misplaced to the Mets as a free agent. Nor ought to they be. Add in shedding the World Series and the opposite current postseason failures, and vibes are unhealthy.
This applies to each staff, together with the Yankees: Treat your followers higher. Sports are distinctive in that buyer loyalty (i.e. fandom) is handed down via the generations. Fans follow you thru the great and unhealthy, so deal with them higher. They’re not numbers in a spreadsheet to be exploited. The Yankees would do nicely to enhance the fan expertise. Show the folks you’re keen on them again.
