After an excruciating, long Wednesday of MLB reporters constantly relaying that the Yankees deal to acquire Juan Soto is nearly complete, the deal was finalized late that same night. Juan Soto will be taking his talents coast-to-coast and will sport the pinstripes.
The Yankees sent Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez and Kyle Higashioka for Soto and another lefty outfielder in Trent Grisham, who will be used as a fourth outfielder.
Let me address the pessimism first: I understand this is a rental, but we kept our farm system intact and many high leverage prospects after this blockbuster trade. The only top 100 prospect involved in this trade was Thorpe who is ranked No. 99. There is no reason to be hanging on to guys that will most likely never reach the heights that a 25-year old Soto has already attained. Juan Soto makes this team better. End of story.
The Yankees pulled the plug on a Gerrit Cole trade during his Pirates days because they did not want to give up Chance Adams who has not pitched in the major league since 2020. When you have the opportunity to obtain proven superstar talent, you make the move.
Juan Soto will provide a much needed boost for this Yankees lineup, immediately becoming the second best player on this offense. He is the best in the league at getting on base, which was a dire problem for the Yankees in their abysmal 2023 season. While the short porch in Yankee Stadium should boost his power numbers, his offensive value goes well beyond how many more home runs he’ll have.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto spell danger for opposing pitchers. I won’t go as far as saying it is the best in the league, but those two guys alone make the Yankees lineup a scary one.
I also want to admit I was wrong about the front office. It felt that nothing was going to change and they were going to feed the same excuses as they have for the past couple years. However, this seems like a different atmosphere. While the team has been underwhelming since 2020, the front office finally does not have the excuse of “We are a playoff team” and simply cannot just run it back.
The acquisition of Juan Soto shows that the front office is very aware this team needs to improve. The outfield was a mess when Judge was sidelined with a toe injury. Now they have added three lefty outfielders: Soto, Grisham and former Red Sox outfielder, Alex Verdugo.
The next priority for the Bronx Bombers is to bolster their rotation and they are looking at none other than Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Many teams are tapped in with the 25-year old hurler, so his future being with the Yankees is far from certain, but it seems Cashman and Hal are all in on Yamamoto even after the Soto deal.
For the first time since the offseason leading to the 2009 season, this offseason seems aggressive about improving. The Yankees had a disappointing season in 2008 and responded by making a plethora of moves to immediately improve the team. These moves would result in the Yankees 27th championship. Now we are coming off a similarly disappointing year and the changes being made feel very similar.
While winning a World Series is a tall task for even the most stacked of teams, the Yankees are proving that the world championship is still the priority. Rebuilding is not an option, they just signed Aaron Judge to a massive eight-year contract and he is looking to win as the new captain of the New York Yankees. They needed to make a splash to make an immediate improvement to this underperforming roster.
Juan Soto is a Yankee for at least one year. Could he walk after the season? Sure, but Hal and Cashman certainly do not make this deal if they are not planning on trying to keep him long term. In the end, the Yankees have added one of the best left-handed batters in the league to a depleted righty-heavy lineup. Juan Soto is the best left-handed bat the Yankees have had in a LONG time and 2024 should be a hell of a ride.
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