Juan Soto has made his decision and to quote the Grail Knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “He chose poorly”.  Soto agreed to a 15-year $765 million deal to play for the New York Metropolitans.  Now that the bidding war is over, lets see how this affects the New York Yankees.  Because let’s face it, that’s all I care about. 

I have wanted Juan Soto to be a Yankee for years.  I wanted him when he was with the Nationals.  I was pissed when they traded him and it wasn’t to the Yankees.  As soon as it became known that San Diego was going to move him, I insisted Cashman needed to get it done.  Surprisingly he actually did.  And when Soto took the field for the Yankees, he performed exactly as I had hoped.  So, you would think I would be very upset over this development.  However, I am not.  Why not?  Because this is what I always expected to happen.  When the Yankees acquired Soto, I was expecting them to pretty much immediately sign him to an extension.  That’s what you usually do when you trade a lot of assets for a guy on a one-year deal.  When that did not happen and it became clear that Soto intended to test free agency, I assumed that he would end up on the Mets.  Mets owner Steve Cohen has been trying to buy a World Series ever since he took over ownership.  Last season he did not go after Aaron Judge when he was a free agent and the belief was that he was waiting for Soto.  That proved out to be the case.  Cohen has a lot of money.  Like, A lot of money.  There was no way anyone was going to out bid him for Soto’s services. Unlike Aaron Judge, who turned down more money from other teams to stay with the Yankees, Soto had no really connection to the Bronx Bombers.  He didn’t come up through their system.  He wasn’t on the team for 6 seasons (the prerequisite for being a free agent).  He was just a hired gun for them.  So, he went with the highest bidder as I expected him to do.  I guess because I came to terms with this almost a year ago, I’m OK with it.  I am not even upset with the Yankees for not being able to resign him.  This was all a fait accompli.  So we thank Soto for his efforts last season and we move on. 

Where does this leave the Yankees?  Well, first thing you have to remember, they still have the best hitter in baseball in their captain, Aaron Judge.  So it isn’t all bad.  They also still have Stanton, and Jazz, and Wells, and Volpe.  That is the start to a very good line up.  And now they have a lot of money to spend to fill out the roster.    

With that said, at the beginning of the off season I said there were two paths they could go by, one where they sign Soto and go young at the other needed positions, or two, where they don’t get Soto and have to replace his bat with more established hitters.  Clearly, we are looking at scenario 2 now.  The big question is, who do they go after now that the big fish has been caught?  As I said in my last This and That column, they may have a lot of money to spend now but they can’t spend it on the wrong people.  They can’t just spend it to spend it.  They don’t want to end up with more contracts like the Marcus Strowman contract where a year later and you are hoping the team can dump him on someone.  Signing a bunch of old mediocre players to big contracts can set a franchise back years.  If the right guy isn’t there, just go young.  Don’t sign guys just to be able to say you spent a lot of money.  Cashman has to make the right decisions.  I really don’t trust him to do so. 

So, the Yanks have to fill in 4 positions in their lineup.  First base, another infielder, either 3^rd or second depending on where Jazz is going to play next season, and two outfielders.  One of the outfield spots it going to go to the Martian, Jasson Dominguez.  I think the front runner for the other outfield spot may be a trade candidate, Cody Bellinger.  The Yanks have been rumored to be interested in Bellinger.   The only free agent outfielder I think is worth sniffing around is Anthony Santander.  Bellinger has been getting a lot of talk as a candidate to fill the first base job rather than the outfield job.  I guess in that scenario they could acquire both he and Santander.  Bellinger is a solid player but not a great one.  He has had two great seasons, one of which he won the MVP, but the rest of his career is meh at best.  Last season he was OK, nothing special.  Now, with what the Yankees got out of left field and first base last season, it’s not hard to be an improvement.  And Bellinger would be that but not necessarily a big one.  He is left-handed so maybe Yankee Stadium will give him a lift.  So could being the guy who bats in front of Aaron Judge.  Or with Judge on base if they decide to (stupidly) move Judge back to the two hole.  He is only 29 years old so he should be in his prime.  My guess is he ends up filling one of the holes in the line up next season.  I just hope they don’t give too much up for him. 

I have always like Santander and thought he was a good hitter but that might be because he has been a bit of a Yankee killer over the years.  He had a big year going into his free agency with 44 home runs.  That is always something to be wary about.  But he is a switch hitter and he has been a solid hitter his whole career.  I wouldn’t expect 44 round trippers in the future but he could be a nice replacement for Verdugo.  Again, not a high bar to get over. 

The other guy they have been linked to to replace Rizzo at first base is Christian Walker.  I am not a fan of this.  He is 33 years old and seems to be on the decline.  He is a gold glove first baseman and I value first base defense a lot more than others so that would be a positive to signing him.  However, this is the type of player you sign for a year or two in hopes that one of the young first baseman can break out in the minors and take over after his short stint in the Bronx. Signing him to anything more than a coupe of years would be a big mistake.   

As for the other infield spot, there are not any free agents I am in favor of.  I would have liked Willy Adames but he signed a day to early.  Bregman is the name that is going to be brought up to play third but I would stay away from him.  He is going to be a big contract.  Most likely the second biggest contract this offseason, though no where near what Soto got.  He’s 31 years old and he isn’t a top guy like Soto or Judge.   He’s the type of guy you give a big contract too and then regret it in a couple of years.  Aside from him though, there isn’t much out there.  Now I obviously have no idea who could be available on the trade market so there may be a perfect guy to fill the last infield spot but I can’t assume there is.  For me, if they can fill the other outfield spot and first base with good solid vets, I would still go young and play Caleb Durbin as the 4^th infielder.  They have mentioned him multiple times this offseason and were clearly on board with him playing if they signed Soto.  So, don’t get cold feet now.  I am a fan of Durbin’s, though I admit you never know if a kid will hit in the Majors.  I think having 2 rookies in the lineup, he and the Martian, will be fine.  Plus, if either of them don’t work out, they can always trade for someone at the deadline.

Another possibility is for them to get two vet infielders and then go young in the outfield and bring up Spencer Jones.  If Soto signed, he would have been very tradable but now that Soto is gone, does he get his chance to earn a spot on the big-league roster?  To me it would matter on how they fill out the rest of the lineup.  If Judge, and Cole, were in their late 20’s I would love for the Yankees to just go young and bring up all the prospects.  However, they really can’t waste a year hoping 4 guys will work out.  One or two is okay but 4 could be throwing a season away.  You can replace a guy or two at the deadline, but not half your lineup.  If they go the veteran way, Jones, and Rice, and Rumfield all become guys they can trade for those vets, or for pitching they may want to acquire.  At some point they have to make a decision one way or the other on these guys. 

Speaking of pitching, the Yankees have been linked to both Max Fried and Corbin Burnes.  Of the two I would rather go with Burnes just because he has proven he can pitch in the AL East.  And although his home ball park was a pitchers dream last season, he actually had a better ERA on the road.  With all the extra money they suddenly have, maybe both of them are in play.  The Yankees could look to build a dominate pitching staff and try to win that way hoping the kids can burst onto the scene in the lineup.  Cole, Fried, Burnes, Rodon, and last seasons Rookie of the Year would be a hell of a rotation.  Use the rest of their assets to build a dominate bullpen and try and win low scoring games.  That could work.

My guess is that they sign one of them and keep Schmidt in the rotation.  I assume they will also be in on the Japanese kid, Roki Sasaki.  He will actually be cheap but there is no real bidding war there and everyone expects him to sign with the Dodgers.  

Another Starter the Yankees could be in on is White Sox ace Garrett Crochet.  He would be someone they could trade their prospects for if they go the veteran route in the field.  The Pale Hose are reported to want hitting prospects in return and the Yankees have plenty of them.  There is going to be a lot of competition for Crochet but if they really want him, I feel the Yankees have the ammo to get it done.  OK, now I am having dreams of Cole, Fried, Burnes, Crochet, and Rodon as the rotation.  Even better, trade Rodon and sign Sasaki.  Win with pitching.     

Now that the Soto is signed, the Yankees can move on in their off-season plan.  What direction will they go?  Who will they sign and who will they trade for?  Well, we will just have to wait and see.  Signing a guy like Soto is an easy decision.  Now Cashman has some hard decisions to make.  Honestly, I don’t have a lot of faith in him.  Hopefully he will put together a team that can make another World Series run.  What ever he does do, I expect a lot of it to happen over the next few days as the Winter Meetings continue in Dallas.