1. I have completed the five stages of grief when it comes to Juan Soto no longer being a Yankee. It took me a couple of weeks to move through the first (denial) and second (anger) steps, but I was only briefly in the third (bargaining) and fourth (depression) steps. Acceptance (the fifth step) is where I am now and where I plan on remaining.
I didn’t know how the Yankees’ roster or I would rebound from the loss of Soto, but the dark place the roster and I were in when the news broke to where the roster and I are now has been quite the turnaround. It has been turned around enough that I’m breaking my promise to walk away from the Yankees and baseball and learn an instrument or language rather than suffer through a Soto-less season. At least for now.
2. I have liked what the Yankees have done this offseason since Soto chose the disgusting orange and blue. If the Yankees had been successful in signing Soto, I believe it’s obvious he would have been their entire offseason. I realize I would have willingly been accepting a less-rounded team to guarantee Soto in the lineup for the next decade and a half.
Two years ago, after the Yankees signed Carlos Rodon, no impact moves were made. Last year, after trading for Soto, no impact moves were made. History would have repeated itself with Hal Steinbrenner looking ways to cut costs after giving Soto $765 million of his inheritance. At best, by re-signing Soto and doing nothing else, the Yankees’ ceiling would have been getting humiliated in the World Series again.
Since Soto left for Queens, the Yankees have made themselves into a better team. That’s not to say losing Soto doesn’t suck or that he would have prevented them from being a better team (the Steinbrenner’s would have prevented the Yankees from being a better team with Soto because they would have been reluctant to add more to their payroll). But the Yankees now have a deeper rotation with the signing of Max Fried. They have a stronger bullpen with the trade for Devin Williams and re-signing of Jonathan Loaisiga, and they are much better defensively with Aaron Judge back in right field, Cody Bellinger now in either center or left, Paul Goldschmidt at first base and Jazz Chisholm back to second base. The offense has taken a hit because of the loss of Soto, but that was always going to be the case if he left. The only bat that would have come close to replacing his would have been to trade for Kyle Tucker, but after seeing what Soto received in free agency, there was no chance the Yankees would have been able to extend Tucker past 2025.
3. The additions of Fried, Williams, Bellinger and Goldschdmit make the loss of Soto hurt less. It doesn’t make the hurt completely disappear. It makes me sick to see highlights or images of Soto playing for the Yankees knowing that he won’t again. That pain will likely never go away. The only way it goes away is if Soto gains 50 pounds and hits the way he did in 2022 when he posted a .242/.401/.452 slash line with 27 home runs and was only 47 percent better than league average. If Soto puts up a sub-.900 OPS in 2025 or 2026 or any of his “prime” seasons, it’s a disaster. As the highest-paid player in the sport, he now has to be as good as he was in 2024 in each season of his prime.
4. I loved the Fried signing. The rotation before him couldn’t be trusted after Gerrit Cole, and given Cole’s arm and fatigue issues last year, it feels like he’s on borrowed time with each pitch he throws. I don’t care about the money or years given to Fried. If you haven’t come to the realization the Yankees can afford any player at any cost, you never will. If you have been tricked into thinking a $300 million payroll is a lot by the league’s owners, I feel sorry for you. Fried is great. He makes the Yankees better. That’s all that matters. As long he stays healthy and covers first base on ground balls hit to the first baseman, he will do just fine with the Yankees.
5. When you can trade an injured starting pitcher a year away from free agency and a prospect who wasn’t in the Top 30 and no one gave two shits about before the Arizona Fall League for the best reliever in baseball, you’re doing something right. Like Fried, Williams is great. He’s the best reliever in baseball. I enjoyed people bringing up the home run to Pete Alonso in the playoffs as a reason why Williams isn’t great. Emmanuel Clase was a disaster in the ALCS against the Yankees and any fan of any team would take him in a second. Should the Yankees have gotten rid of Mariano Rivera after 1997 for giving up the ALDS-winning home run to Sandy Alomar Jr.? Moronic. Like Fried, as long as Williams stays healthy, he will be great for the Yankees.
6. Why didn’t the Yankees just sign Bellinger last offseason when all he would have cost was money, and when they could have had another strong left-handed bat in a World Series-bound lineup? I guess it’s because they didn’t want to tie up money they planned on needing to make a run at Soto with. Whoops. But now that the money for Soto is still in Hal’s bank account they’re able to finally make Bellinger a Yankee.
The trade for Bellinger was a good move. A good move that was inevitable. Possibly a year too late, but nevertheless, a move the Yankees had to make to try to balance the lineup. And they still need lineup balance. They are still too right-handed heavy. They removed Anthony Rizzo and added Bellinger. But they removed Soto and added Goldschmidt. That’s two lefties out (even if one sucked) and one in. The Yankees need another left-handed infield bat. I don’t think there is one out there worth signing. Anything of quality will have to come from a trade.
7. Last year, Soto was a 7.9 WAR player. Two years ago, Goldschmidt won the NL MVP with a .317/.404/.578 slash line and 7.7 WAR. Just two years ago, 2022 Goldschmidt was essentially 2024 Soto. Unfortunately, there has been two seasons of baseball since then, and after being 77 percent better than league average in 2022, Goldschmidt was just 20 percent better in 2023 and shockingly 2 percent worse in 2024.
You can look at the signing of the now-37-year-old Goldschmidt in one of two ways: The Yankees just signed a 37-year-old first baseman coming off the worst season of his 14-year career OR by having the worst season of his 14-year career, the Yankees were able to sign Goldschmidt for only one year and $12.5 million!
Typically, when a player at the advanced baseball age of 36 has the worst season of their career, they settle for a minor-league deal or an invite to spring training. Because typically, the downward slope of their offense doesn’t reverse course. Sadly, the ways to reverse course are no longer a part of the game the way they were in the 80s, 90s or 2000s.
There’s the chance the pinstripes rejuvenate Goldschmidt the way they have for so many others over the years. But for every player like Matt Carpenter, there’s three of players like Anthony Rizzo, Josh Donaldson or Matt Holliday. Hopefully, Goldschmidt has one more full season of offense left in the tank. And if not, hopefully, he will at least take ground balls hit to him to the bag himself.
8. After seven mostly disappointing seasons, Gleyber Torres is no longer a Yankee. Back in 2018 and 2019 when Torres was a force in the lineup (thanks to the juiced baseball) there weren’t many, if any, players in the league the Yankees would have traded him for. Now they let him walk for nothing.
Torres said the Yankees didn’t even reach out to him during the offseason. He was a player they kept through every trade deadline and offseason of his Yankee tenure, a player they made endless excuses and changed the makeup of their infield for multiple times to cater to and a player who was batting leadoff for them in the World Series and the Yankees didn’t even call to check in with his agent on his market over the last two months? What a fall from grace for a player I thought seven years ago was going to be an up-the-middle glove and middle-of-the order bat for the Yankees for the next decade and a half.
9. The Yankees have removed the player with the lowest Baseball IQ in the league from their lineup, but they still desperately need an infielder. Aaron Boone recently said given the current roster, Chisholm will move back to second and DJ LeMahieu and/or Oswaldo Cabrera will play third.
C: Austin Wells
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Jazz Chisholm
3B: DJ LeMahieu/Oswaldo Cabrera
SS: Anthony Volpe
LF: Cody Bellinger/Jasson Dominguez
CF: Cody Bellinger/Jasson Dominguez
RF: Aaron Judge
DH: Giancarlo Stanton
It’s good. It’s not great, but it’s good and good enough. In today’s AL, good enough works. The Yankees won the AL with Soto, lost Soto and are still favored to win the AL. That’s how weak the entire league is. The Mets added Soto, are going to run a payroll north of $300 million again, and may be the third-best team in their division let alone the entire NL. The NL has become what the AL once was.
That’s fine with me! I love seeing every big-name player traded to or signing with an NL team. It makes it easier for the Yankees, at least until they reach the World Series, which is exactly what happened in 2024: They finished with the best record in the AL despite being .500 since mid-June, steamrolled two AL Central teams in the ALDS and ALCS and then got embarrassed in the World Series by a better all-around team.
10. The Yankees were able to outlast the Orioles for the division because the Orioles couldn’t get out of their own way in the second half. They were able to outlast any threat from the Astros for a first-round bye because the Astros got off to such a bad start. They were able to get past the Royals and Guardians in the ALDS and ALCS because of Soto and Stanton. But once they got to the Dodgers, a complete team was too much for two players to overcome. The Dodgers were the better team. Since losing Soto, the Yankees have taken necessary steps to become a better all-around team than they were last year, when they relied on two players in the regular season (Soto and Judge) and two players in the postseason (Soto and Stanton).
It’s been nine weeks since the World Series ended and the Yankees are a better team today than they were for the last out of last season. There’s six weeks until spring training and plenty of time for them to get even better.
Last modified: Jan 1, 2025
